31 Days of Seeking Joy in the EveryDay: Joys Longing to be Ours

This is one of my favorite things:

A college ruled 5 subject spiral notebook.

I use them for journals, and I use them for to-do lists and notes in general.  

I can’t deny that a brand new spiral makes me more than a little giddy :o)    

Last week I flipped through the nearest spiral  

to find a blank piece of paper and I encountered a stranger.

Well, not a complete stranger. 

It was me  … Past Me.  

The me from May.  

She was a little hard to recognize because she was all dressed up in wisdom.   

Sometimes I have to laugh a little at Past Me’s … 

they can tend to take themselves too seriously and be a little grandiose.   

I don’t remember exactly what happened in May that prompted these deep thoughts.  

There were some significant, life changing events that made the summer poignant and important.  

I’m glad this Past Me was there to set the tone … 

and I’m glad the Past Me from May wrote her thoughts down so I could revisit her wisdom in October.  

I needed it.

Here’s what Past Me said on the principle of being present, 

in that everything in the right here and right now, 

uninfluenced by anything past or anything future, 

is  j u s t  f i n e:

The present is perfectly acceptable ...

Often wholly good ...

 Often very, very good.

It’s the pollution of the past ... experiences, disappointments, situations, events, hurts, heartbreaks ... 

that muddy the circumstances of the present.

This concept of living in the moment, 

and in this very moment ONLY ...

it frees you from everything.  

It opens you to all the goodness and joy of the present.  

It’s the things that we drag forward out of the past  
– memories, responses, reactions, expectations, interpretations – 
that ruin the present.  

They obscure it.  

They veil it.  

They distract us from it.

This principle applies to relationships, too, and it’s necessary to really love unconditionally.  

You have to let go the memories of conflict, offense, hurt ... to genuinely appreciate another person.  
To respond in the present free of the past is to invest grace in the relationship. 

To relate to another person in the right here and right now frees them to be their best self.  

To truly look at another person as ... new ... to truly relate to them in the now,

 rather than following in the ruts of the past is to free yourself to love fully and drink deeply.  

It’s to set each other free from mistakes, offenses, hurts. 

It’s to love in the here and now, and to live in the here and now. 

To relate in the right here and right now is to free yourself to revel in the moment.  

To enjoy and savor it.  

To experience everything as a child, without preconceived notions and expectations – 

makes everything new.  

It makes everything a miracle!

It opens up your eyes to appreciate, to be grateful, to walk into a room and see it as new.  

To truly look at the world around you rather than dwell in the forest of the mind 

is to free yourself to live fully in, and drink deeply of the present.

It was good to be reminded of all that, and to try and learn it again.  

Take a look around ... try to see your world as though you’ve never seen it before.  

Try to see your loved ones as though they’ve never hurt you before.   

I hope you see a world that’s bursting with goodness, 

and I hope today that your heart is filled with joy.

Because this moment right now?  

It is 

very, 

very good.

“There are joys which long to be ours. 

God sends ten thousands truths, which come about us like birds seeking inlet; 

but we are shut up to them, and so they bring us nothing, 

but sit and sing awhile upon the roof, and then fly away.” ― Henry Ward Beecher