Often I will ask my students to write about "one moment in time that made a difference in your life." Only to realize that I don't really take the time to live for the moment in mine. Would I have difficulty writing this memoir? So keeping in mind that patience is still a virtue and waiting is often best for the "moment," I have decided to slow down, breathe (deeply), appreciate the right now. Sometimes I am so busy dealing with the "just happened" or contemplating the "what's to come" that I miss the "happening now."
So, as I began my 9.5 hour drive the other day, I decided to put myself to the test. Gotta start somewhere. This drive goes on forever and ever and ever and ever and ever. I have always dreaded the going and the coming. So instead of thinking about how far I'd gone or how far I had to go, I contemplated the present. Right now I am here. This is what is around me. I will never be in this exact place again at this exact moment. I am here (wherever here might be). And I must admit it was quite eye-opening. The anxiety slipped away and the moment slid into view. Amazingly, I discover I am not dreading the long trip back. That I do not feel so irritable or uptight. Liberating!
And it begins - right now, in this moment - my journey on the road becomes a metaphor for my journey through life. God will navigate and I will drive, striving along the road to appreicate the moment, wherever it may find me.