We spend so much of life looking for what comes next…
that we overlook what has already arrived.
THIS MOMENT.
Maybe the reward isn’t waiting at the end of the journey.
Maybe the journey itself has been handing it to us all along.
THE MOMENT IS THE REWARD
People spend a great deal of time seeking different things for different reasons.
Happiness.
Success.
Answers.
Purpose.
Peace.
Love.
Enough.
I want to submit two simple observations we often overlook while going about our daily business.
First:
WHATEVER YOU ARE LOOKING FOR MAY BE CLOSER THAN YOU THINK.
The answer, more often than not, is somewhere right under your nose.
Second:
THE MOMENT BRINGS IT ALL TOGETHER.
Everything you have ever experienced happened in a moment.
And everything you will ever experience will happen the same way.
LESS EFFORT…MORE RESULTS
We are marvelous self-contained living units with the ability to learn, adjust, explore, grow and change.
Much of the mechanism for doing so is already inside you.
Seeking.
Asking.
Knocking.
Investigating.
Wondering.
Exploring.
Participating.
These activate something.
You don’t always have to force life into submission.
Sometimes you need to become quiet enough to RECEIVE what life is already showing you.
DON’T LIVE IN YOUR MIND…LIVE IN THE MOMENT
Consider this:
Everything you actually DO is done in the moment you do it.
You can think about walking for three hours…
but until you take the step, you haven’t gone anywhere.
You can imagine telling someone you love them.
You can rehearse it.
Plan it.
Think about the perfect time.
But eventually…
YOU HAVE TO SAY IT.
And the instant you do, thought becomes experience.
That’s the moment.
Life has begun participating with you.
CONSIDER THIS
There may be nothing more valuable to living fully than awareness of the moment you are presently occupying.
Look around.
Where are you?
Who is with you?
What do you hear?
What do you see?
What is happening RIGHT NOW that you ordinarily hurry past?
To enjoy life deeply, we have to slow down enough to taste it.
That’s difficult because the mind is forever dangling another carrot.
WHEN I GET THERE…
WHEN I HAVE THAT…
WHEN THIS PROBLEM IS OVER…
WHEN I MAKE MORE MONEY…
WHEN THINGS FINALLY SETTLE DOWN…
Then I’ll enjoy myself.
MMMMM?
How many moments are we willing to sacrifice waiting for another moment to arrive?
CAPTAIN ON BOARD
The mind is a marvelous servant.
It isn’t always a marvelous captain.
Neither are runaway emotions.
When we become aware of our thoughts instead of automatically obeying every one of them, something changes.
The Captain comes back aboard.
YOU.
Now the moment begins supplying information.
You notice things.
People become interesting.
Nature becomes magnificent.
Conversations become deeper.
Ordinary circumstances begin revealing extraordinary details.
You stop merely moving through life…
and begin RECEIVING LIFE.
OPTIMUM IS ACHIEVED
I have written before about sucking the marrow out of life.
This is where you do it.
HERE.
NOW.
Whatever the moment happens to contain.
People sometimes call it giving 100%.
I call it being PRESENT.
When you are truly present, you become both an observer and a receiver.
You participate without needing to dominate.
You experience without immediately needing to possess.
You appreciate without demanding that everything last forever.
That is optimum living.
YOUR PORTION AWAITS YOU…OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
There is another interesting thing that happens when we stop forcing everything.
The inner compass becomes easier to hear.
Less unnecessary will.
Less frantic ambition.
Less comparing.
Less imaginary living.
More noticing.
More receiving.
More gratitude.
More YOU.
Perhaps what you call your portion in life isn’t something you have to chase to exhaustion.
Perhaps some of it has been traveling toward you too.
But you have to be present when it arrives.
THE MOMENT IS THE REWARD
We naturally think rewards come afterward.
Work first.
Reward later.
Journey first.
Destination later.
Struggle first.
Happiness later.
But life keeps whispering something else.
The sunrise IS part of the reward.
The conversation IS part of the reward.
Holding someone’s hand IS part of the reward.
Walking the dog IS part of the reward.
Eating dinner together IS part of the reward.
Looking into somebody’s eyes IS part of the reward.
Even sitting quietly and realizing…
I AM HERE…
is part of the reward.
Don’t spend your entire life preparing to live.
The moment has already arrived.
Enter it.
Journey well…
and journey deep.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
https://pearlsforthesoul.com
Been expecting you