Finding the Beauty of the Here and Now

Life has been running at full speed lately, meaning routine and schedules are everywhere. Only two years ago, I was in college and pretty much in control of my own schedule. Now, there are work commitments and agendas to answer to and while it’s a change, it’s also a part of life and not necessarily a bad thing.

But at the same time, there is something restless in me. Honestly though, I have almost always been restless. I am a future oriented person whose head is often in the clouds and thoughts are usually focused on what could be, not necessarily what is.

These past two years of post-grad living, with their routines and business casual dress codes, have actually taught me a lot. I’ve learned to be more gracious to myself when I make mistakes. And I’ve learned to live in the moment more, to appreciate the present for the beauty it can hold.

But it’s a lesson I’m still learning.

Just last Friday, I ventured out to watch the sunset over a beach only an hour from my city and I was surprised to find how beautiful it was. It left me wondering why, in all my years of living here, I don’t visit it more often. I look at the photos people share on Instagram of exotic locations and faraway places and my heart longs for them – yet I so often neglect the beauty in my own backyard.

I don’t want to do that anymore.

Where I am right now isn’t perfect. It’s flawed and messy and sometimes a little confusing. The present is rarely an idyllic fairytale. It’s full of routine and mundane moments and unwelcome surprises. But it’s all we’ve really got. The past is gone and the future is an elusive thing, slipping right between our fingers before we can grab hold of it.

The present moment is all we can really hold onto. The here and the now. So let's we find the beauty in it.

#christian