Wake up, and be here now

How often do you find yourself, even if only for the briefest of moments, focused on nothing other than the here and now? Fully in the moment, and nowhere else?

When did you last allow yourself to lie in bed first thing in the morning, listening to the birds sing outside your window as the sun’s rays slanted in, refracting through the glass panes? Or the last time you experienced a  sunset in all its mesmerising fullness, seeing the sky revolve through a kaleidoscope of brilliant oranges, scarlets and crimsons, colours reflecting off the underside of feather-traced clouds, the sun sinking below the horizon and fire giving way to deep, brooding violet, ultramarine and star-flecked obsidian?

The beauty of life lies in the now. The present. For it is just that: a present. Many people that were here yesterday today are no more, their time up.

You, though, are reading this. You are alive.

Allow that realisation to sink in fully. For one day it will be your turn. If young, you will one day be old. Or maybe you won’t. You may never make it that far.

This is not meant to frighten, or be morbid. Rather, it is to open your eyes to the beauty of now.

At any given moment, in any situation, there is always a choice. You can either spend all your time and energy dwelling on the past, and worrying and dreaming about the future. Remaining asleep. Allowing life to pass you by.

Or you can awaken.

Connect with your friends and loved ones on a real, rather than virtual, level. Put down the phone or tablet, step away from the computer, and go for a walk in Nature. Put on your favourite piece of music. Allow time to stop, and the present to become all-encompassing.

Give meditation a go. Meditation is, ultimately, about nothing more than being fully in the moment, unencumbered by any distraction. Exercise for the mind. Just as we need to train our bodies to remain in good physical shape, so we need to train our minds to remain healthy mentally.

If for the first time, try it with an experienced practitioner who can guide you. You wouldn’t attempt to play a sport without first learning the technique – so too with meditation. Learn the basics, engage in a few sessions, and then try to incorporate it into your daily life.

Next time you commute to work, try not to think about the tasks that await you at the office and instead look around you. Notice the flower poking through the cracks in the pavement. The bird perched atop a nearby power line chirping its little heart out. A smile exchanged with another commuter. And understand that these moments are there to be experienced every single day. You need only awaken to them.

“Il y a des fleurs partout pour qui veut bien les voir”

There are flowers everywhere. It is up to you whether you choose to see them.