onlyontuesday
  • Blog
  • About
  • Quotes
  • Nature
  • Destinations
  • Subscribe

Close focus on life

10/24/2016

1 Comment

 
Picture
In summertime my boss’s standard lunch was a large bowl of fresh fruit salad from the local deli. He didn’t wolf it down as I so often do, but ate it slowly and deliberately. Sometimes he’d shut his eyes and just relish the texture and explosive flavour of the mango or the nectarine. I still remember his sighs of delight and ecstasy. He took the time to savour every single mouthful.
 
As I got to know him better, I discovered that’s how he read a book. Slowly and deliberately, taking notes along the way and recording quotes that moved him. Then he would add his own thoughts as he reflected on what he’d read.  
 
Not surprisingly, I eventually discovered that this was how he lived his life, savouring every moment. Somehow he’d learnt to concentrate his whole mind and energy on one thing at a time … unhurried … undistracted ... reflectively.
 
I want to live like that.  
 
But I’m discovering it comes at a high price. It requires me to choose to live, not focusing on the next trip … the next family celebration … my next career move ... when the kids leave home or when I retire, but deliberately in the here and now.
 
You’ve heard it all before … seize the moment … be mindful.
 
But what if life in all its richness is actually hidden in the everydayness of life.
What if by rushing on to the next thing I am bypassing the best of all.
​What if every ordinary moment brims with heaven and I miss it?
 
It seems to me that abundant life is more about how we live and the choices we make. Dan Allender says, “The rubber hits the road when a potential yes means saying a thousand noes to a legion of legitimate choices”.*
 
So what am I willing to give up to savour every moment of life?

The choices will be different for each of us but I'm convinced that the most courageous and daring thing we can do is live life with a close focus on the present. Embracing every moment as a sacred gift, open to learn whatever it has to teach, allowing ourselves the freedom to discover the clarity and detail that close focus holds.

Jean-Pierre de Cassaude called it, "The sacrament of the present moment".
​

* To be Told by Dan Allender
1 Comment
Peter Stanton
10/24/2016 01:47:30 pm

I have a dear Friend who lives her life just as you've described...she is an amazing inspiration to me and I'm gradually learning to do just what she writes...it becomes a beautiful life....thank you.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Glenyss Barnham
    ​I'm a mother and grandmother who loves  discovering beauty in unexpected places.

    Archives

    June 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly