A Peaceful Moment

I am at the kitchen table with my cup of coffee, all windows open to soak in a beautiful, sunny day, and it occurs to me: I’m alone. Well, my pack of dogs are here, but no other humans. A strange sensation. The wind chimes are tinkling, and every hour I can hear the bells at the Greek Orthodox Church ring. It is nice to have some peaceful time at the beginning of the day. A time to just be present…here and now. The craziness will start soon enough.

My daughter returns from seeing her boyfriend in Chicago in a couple of hours, I need to feed her cats, my husband is in the hospital dealing with a rejection episode from his lung transplant (not uncommon, all is well), and I have errands to run. We live in a busy, busy world now, with little time for contemplation or just sitting. Those moments, so common in my childhood, are rare and few now. I pause to breathe it in. Precious.

Since I started my Advanced Yoga Level 1 I have tried to carve out some time each day to just “be”.  THIS is my moment. It should be easy to find time every day, but for some reason, it isn’t. Multitasking has become so intrinsic to our lives that finding such a moment is uncommon.  I need to make time, every day, to stop everything, turn off everything, and just be present. Strangely enough, finding that time makes my day better.  I feel more energetic if I take a “time out”.

I am wondering how many of us find this moment every day? I confess I don’t always make the time even though I know it would be best if I did.  How many of us have a meditation practice? A daily prayer?  Some kind of daily ritual that is meant to find calm and peace in a busy life.  I really want to hear from you if you do, don’t, or want to.  ???