This Moment

by Lisa Olson

"The only time you ever have in which to learn anything or see anything or feel anything, or express any feeling or emotion, or respond to an event, or grow, or heal, is this moment, because this is the only moment any of us ever gets. You're only here now; you're only alive in this moment." - Jon Kabat-Zinn

Tonight I found myself cranky, snapping at my family, feeling waves of overwhelm, splashing around in exhaustion and wading around in martyrdom. Until I came unexpectedly upon that quote. Whoa. I read it once. Twice. I thought... "Do I want to get to the end of my life and wish I hadn't wasted so much time being cranky?" If this were my ONLY moment, is this really how I'd want to spend it?

This IS my only moment, right now. I don't have any of yesterday's moments to relive. And tomorrow's moments aren't here yet. I only have THIS moment. It's a mind-boggling concept to accept. But when I do, I feel free. And when I do, I instantly redirect myself and commit to making it a great moment.

None of us has any idea how much time we have here. All we have is this moment. When you reach the end of your life, do you want to be remembered as the person who surfed the net a lot? Or the person who worried all the time? Will you wish you would have spent more time at the office? Will you look at all of your unlived dreams and wish you would have found a way- SOME way to honor them?

I do not want to look back and feel I have wasted time. In fact, I refuse to. I want to be remembered as someone who made the most of her moments. Let's live as if this were our only moment. Because actually, it is.

(c)2009 Lisa Olson for Sacred in the CIty