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
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
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