Food For Thought - "Taking Things for Granted"

"Taking Things for Granted"
C2003 Gail Pursell Elliott
 

What is most important to us in life is often what we take for granted, and may forget to appreciate. 

Or what we have in abundance may be what we take for granted.  For example, a famous personality once lit a cigar using a twenty-dollar bill, causing consternation on the part of others. 

We may take the love of our children for granted, forgetting that the days and hours we have to spend with them will not come back once they are past.

Some order up from life just what they think they want, and when they receive either don’t know how to handle it, or look over at what someone else ordered instead of enjoying what they have. 

We may become more focused on our goals and expectations or downhearted at what we have lost to appreciate what is right in front of us.

Each situation in life that we experience is an opportunity for us to be fully present within that situation and to enjoy it not only for what it is, but to discern the gifts that it is offering to us and to appreciate them.

In order to be fully present we cannot be somewhere else, either in the future, the past, or a fantasy.  The people who populate our present circumstances are not any of those places.  They are in the present moment with us.  But they know if we are only physically here and our attention is elsewhere.  Some of them may feel cheated and they are right. 

In some relationships, we can live or work side by side for years while rarely being fully present at the same moment.  When those moments do occur, they often are remembered as being high points in the relationship.

When we think about it, the times that we experience the true high points in our lives are not the moments we spend reviewing the past, planning the future, or fantasizing our dreams, but are those we spend being totally present.  Those are the times that we feel fully alive.  

Once we focus ourselves on being fully present, we then must choose either a positive or negative perspective.  For example, we can be present by bemoaning all the cat hair on the carpet, or by smiling at the cat playing in a sunbeam. 

There certainly are times when we must review the past, plan for the future, remember our goals, and fantasize our dreams.  When those dominate rather than supplement or enhance our present moment experience, not only are we taking what we have for granted, we are taking ourselves for granted as well.

Focusing on positives helps to keep us grounded in the present moment and helps to create those high points that become part of our treasured memories.

Have a Great Day and be good to yourself.  You deserve it!

Gail

Copyright ©2003 Gail Pursell Elliott All rights reserved.
Food For Thought is part of the Dignity and Respect message that is Innovations.