Living in the Present

Lately I’ve been thinking about living in present. A recent homily brought it mind and I have realized how often I don’t live in the present. The point in the homily was to live in the present moment so you can appreciate this time and get what you need from what is happening now.

It is very metaphysical. We only have this moment; our next is not guaranteed. I say this not in a fatalistic, doom and gloom way but rather, if we are always looking to the future or worse, looking at the past, we miss what is happening right now.

I do this all the time. This causes me to be a person who has trouble seeing the good in my life.

For example, my son is home with us for a short time. Then he is moving on to a job he is very excited about in New York.

While I am thrilled for him I keep thinking about his leaving. And that makes me sad.

Why am I sad when he is here and we are spending time together? I forget that God is the God of the present, he is “I AM”. I forget that Jesus said, “Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil (Mt 6:34).

I forget to be grateful for the good in my life. Here is my list of what I am grateful for right now: the scent of the ocean as I got out of my car at work, coffee and kind words from parishioners, the joy on the children’s faces as I handed them palms, that my family is under one roof, the Eucharist.

If you have this same tendency, how do you keep it in check? Or even better, get rid of it all together?