by Kara D. Williams
We are told “Be present in the moment,” and “Pay attention, the universe is speaking to you!” Those of us who follow this path spend our time learning how to do this and trying to catch those moments when we can see what our guides and Deity is trying to tell us. Often, we’re looking for large crescendo experiences where something is obvious and loud. And sometimes we get them. Awesome! Easy to see. But how many are we missing?
Most of the time, these messages – these realizations – come in the small, still moment. At a time when you are not actively looking, but you are present. You are where you are doing what you are doing and open to the universe. You aren’t thinking ahead, nor lamenting the past. You are simply there. How often are you simply there?
Do you create opportunities in your life to be simply there in a small, still moment? Do you stop and smell the roses and take a breath or two to really experience that moment? Our society says “Go, Go, Go!” But it’s in the small quiet space of two or three breaths that these things reveal themselves.
It’s easy to get caught up in all of our obligations. It’s hard to carve out time. The truly amazing thing about this concept is you don’t have to carve out time. You simply have to pay attention for opportunity. In the spring, when I leave my house, I look around to see what’s blooming. I look at the new green trees and enjoy the way the light looks on that particular shade of green and I stop walking. For several breaths, I just look and enjoy and absorb and energetically open to receive that moment. When I do this my day changes. And it always changes for the better. It’s powerful, in a soft subtle wave.
I’ve heard people say, “Well I do that, and smelling the flowers is nice, but it doesn’t do anything for me.” There is a difference between just pausing in your movement and taking a sniff and then saying: I see nothing; and with actually energetically pausing and taking those breaths and being right there accepting whatever comes to you in that moment. These are two entirely different states of being. So if you’ve tried to “smell the roses” and gotten nothing, perhaps you didn’t actually reach the state of being present in that moment or you were expecting some loud experience that was overwhelming and life changing. You might get one of those, but all too often what you’ll get is something small, but totally relevant and totally important and exactly what you need to receive in that moment. Trust the moment and simply receive.
Two years ago, I was driving to the hospital to see someone who was deathly ill and I was all kinds of resentful. Now I could have just wallowed in my emotions and rushed forward in my errands of the day, but I took a deep breath and relaxed and sat in that moment of negative feelings. When I did, I found a revelation that has gone on to change my life. All because I stopped rushing forward and stopped avoiding the present moment and really experienced what was happening to me. “Smelling the Roses” isn’t always a pleasant moment, but if we can be present in our lives more often than not present, we can be empowered in our journey in this life.
So take each moment as it comes and on occasion, when you think of it stop and breathe and be present. Receive what the Divine is sending to you, feel what you are experiencing instead of letting it all pass you by. Blessed Be!