Life is a series of flashbulb moments, we move through them one by one, thinking of where we are going and why. So seldom are we fully present and satisfied in the moment.
Somehow we lose the childlike ability that we had when we were young to be satisfied right now, with this moment we have today. We are always unsettled, unsatisfied, longing for things that we can't have.
We spend so much time longing for someday that we forget what a beautiful gift of life we have right now, in this present moment. Wherever we are.
Nothing can be good all the time.
Sometimes things are going to be really, really bad. Sometimes they are going to be really, really good. But most of the time it is going to be in the middle. Some good, some bad. And we have to decide where we are going to focus our energy.
Lately, I have been focusing too much on the things I don't have to see the goodness in the things that I do have. I have gotten into a rut with life and just been plodding along. It's not the greatest feeling in the world. That stuckness of the in between times.
When you are really happy, you are present. When you are really sad, you are present.
But when you are bored? You are just overthinking and playing what-if scenarios in your head.
Sometimes, the life in our heads becomes more real and more important than the life that is actually before us. We allow ourselves to become distracted. We watch too much TV, or play too many games online.
We do all these things to distract ourselves, instead of focusing on what is right in front of us. We forget how important those small moments could be. The moments when we have all the people we love close around us.
How do we learn to enjoy things more? How do we learn to be more present in our day to day lives? How do we accept that boredom and monotony is most of what happens to us?
Someone made me realize that I am still so much of an idealist even though I am 40 now. I still have all these hopes and dreams for the future, and an idea of how beautiful life could be if....
All these if's run through my brain and I don't know which if is going to come to pass. Not knowing freaks me out. Not being able to count on one single course of action as being the right one.
Maybe there is no secret sauce. Maybe all we can do is accept our lot in life, accept the way that things are, and keep plodding along.
We can stop planning so much for the bright moments, and let them surprise us along the way. We can learn to let go of expectations and find more spontaneity.
We can relearn to live the way we did when we were young, before we were beaten down by life and afraid to make mistakes. We can find a new way forward with thinking outside the box. We can keep dreaming, keep doing, and keep looking for inspiration.
Realize that even the bad moments don't last forever, and there will be good days soon again before we know it.