As another year has passed and as I sit here watching my sleeping baby girl, I realize just how complex we have made our lives when we should really just be. Just be present. Enjoy each moment that we have without worrying about the next list we have to get done. Living in the moment is hard to do when life’s expectations come crashing in around us. I have realized though that these expectations are often just man made…also known as made by myself. I feel the need to be great, perfect, or to somehow miraculously change the world. It is in this chaos of my thoughts that I realize that I have somewhere along the way lost sight of my purpose and the simplicity of life that I long for. I am too busy comparing myself to others, or worrying about what other people may think of me to really just be. When we sit and are fully present with those around us, we are demonstrating love. We are changing the world…one person at a time. While I get caught up in myself and my list of how to be a better human, I am daily reminded by my sweet girl that it is in these small of acts of being present that we change people’s days. She lives in awe of others and loves to smile and say hello to strangers. She enjoys looking and smelling all the flowers, even if they don’t smell. She takes in the beauty of the world in her innocent eyes and views each person with awe and wonder. I want to be like that. I want to be able to live and speak in such a way that brings life to people and acknowledges our differences without judgment but in love. Too often we look at others and instead of complimenting them, we criticize. I suppose it makes us feel better to think that others are not as cool as we are, but in the end we are just destroying ourselves. We find ourselves in a rat race that we can never win or ever escape. Our constant companion is self degradation. My challenge for myself is to jump off that rat wheel, and to begin to live freely, unencumbered by the many voices in my head that tell me that I am not enough. I am enough and I can just be. I can just be who I was made to be. I don’t have to look like any one else, dress like any one else, or act like any one else. I can just be me. Hopefully a fully present human who chooses to see the beauty in those around me and in the world that I live in.
