Being Present

I don't quite get it.

As I sit here (I should be sleeping) I wonder how it is that tiny little bodies can hold so much energy. How is it that they can exert so much motion and make such big sounds? At times, you'd think there were ten children running around in our home, not two.

There are times that they seem to never run out of questions to ask, never run out of "why", "how come", and "when". No resting or stopping, but the constant buzz, pitter pattering, racing, running, yelling, squealing, whining, asking, vying and saying "maaa--aaahhhhm!"

So harrying at times but reassuring that they are indeed children. Children who run and play and scamper and charge and twist and turn and climb and jump all throughout the day and dancing through life.

This intense attention they give to play seems so overboard, but they are "present". My friend used that phrase and it seemed so fitting to my own life philosophy, to be "present." In this moment, to be, to enjoy, to embrace, to surrender, to fully be aware of this moment and no other. Not to be preoccupied with the past or the future, but to give full attention to the here and now.

We grow up and become preoccupied with yesterday and tomorrow and forget to fully enjoy today. To be present. Kids are so good at that. They don't worry about the past and don't become preoccupied with the future. They are present. They live for the moment, live for today in complete abandon. They hurl themselves at each day as if to day, "Today! Here I come! Ready or not!" They know how to seize the day.

How is it that as we grow older we have less energy, less passion and less gusto when it comes to life? How is that we have more rights and privileges as adults but seem to enjoy them less?

What is it that I need to do in order to embrace life just a little bit more? I'm afraid that I'm better at being present in theory rather than in practice. I wish that I was better at it, I really do. Then watching my kids and keeping them safe during their reckless abandonment wouldn't wear me out so much. I wish I was able to be more present and less preoccupied. But so it is, that as we try to teach our children, they return the favor, simply by living before us.