December 2010: What Is

Download the December 2010 Mandala of the month

What is…right now…right this moment?  Sitting at my computer, writing this post I catch myself thinking about what to eat for breakfast then about how late I am with getting this posted and then about the meeting I have later this morning.  Yet I’m missing what is…what is happening right in this moment.

People talk about how cool it would be to be time travelers…well folks, we already are.  When we are everywhere in our heads but where we are in the moment we are either in the past or in the future.  I gave my two time traveler voices names: The Rehasher and The Rehearser.

The Rehasher goes over and over in its mind an incident that happened an hour ago, a day ago, a year ago.  The Rehasher analyzes ever possible angle to find out how it could have, should have, would have been handled differently.  The Rehearser practices in its mind what it is going to say at an upcoming meeting, or plan out the rest of the morning, or figure out something for some future moment.  Often, much of what The Rehearser processes fails to even happen.  Both of these voices take me away from the present moment.  Please note, obviously planning for anything is important.   Designate a time for planning and focus on planning only at that time rather than when you’re busy doing something else.

So why is it so important to be in the moment?  Because that’s the only time and space where you can actually experience  or feel anything, it’s the only time you are alive.  What happened yesterday is done and gone; tomorrow may fail to appear.  I can relive that great roller coaster ride from four years ago all I want in my mind however it pales in comparison to the actual moment the ride shot down the ramp at 120 mph about to shoot straight up 400 ft into the air.   Or I can contemplate that piece of dark chocolate sitting on my kitchen counter right now all I want however until the actual moment I bite into and chew it, it’s only a thought, a future experience that may happen or, perish the thought, may be lost because it has been eaten by someone else.  If that were to happen, to quote Mr. T,…I pity the fool!  🙂

A great example of missing the moment, and we’ve all seen this, is the parent who is filming their child doing something (piano recital, baseball game, etc.) instead of being in the moment experiencing the actual event.  Yes I know, parents want to have this recording for posterity, to show to people who missed the event…all of which are valid points.  Just know that while focusing on filming the actual experience of the event, the magic of the moment is missed or lessened.

Which would you rather have?  The in-the-moment joy of experiencing your daughter’s first home run, standing up and cheering her on with the rest of the crowd as she runs all the bases and finally comes to home plate where her team mates greet her with a group hug?  or reliving it by watching a video of it.  How many times have you heard someone say after watching such a video…I wish I could have been there, I bet it was great.  A possible solution to the filming vs experiencing thing would be to set the camera up on a tripod and let it do its thing while you allow yourself to be fully in the moment.

So ‘what is’ going on in your life right now, right this moment?  I know that multitasking is seen as a positive thing to be able to do however in the process of multitasking our focus is lessened on each task and we often overlook what is actually going on.  I truly believe that’s how we lose things.  We come in the house with bags of groceries thinking about what to make for dinner while the kids are arguing and the dogs are barking and we have to be someplace else in an hour.  An hour later the car keys are missing.   Had we focused in the moment as we walked in the door, paid attention with each step, with the placing of each grocery bag down on the counter we would remember that we left the keys in the front door of the house…been there done that a few times 🙂

Okay, our assignment for the month of December, and an appropriate assignment I might add, is to be with what is.  Be in the moment with the holiday shopping, the festivities, the family/friend get togethers, your child’s choir performance, Uncle Joe’s funny laugh…all of it.  Be in the moment.

And be in the moment as you allow yourself the time, joy, and well-being of coloring this month’s mandala.  Better yet print enough copies for everyone in your family to color together, creating a wonderful in-the-moment family experience.

Happy Coloring!

joyfully, Maureen, The Mandala Lady

I would love to see your colorings…Upload them to Flickr at  http://www.flickr.com/groups/mandalas/