This is what it feels like to rest “in the moment.” I am sitting on the beach surrounded by laughing strangers, seagulls soar above searching for their next meal, innocently listening to snippets of conversation that ride the wind to my ears, caressed by a constant breeze that tempers the Texas heat, and watching my husband’s seemingly tiny head as it bobs to and fro far from shore on his boggie-board. I sit here without thoughts of cleaning, cooking, the mountain of clothes taunting me,  or the morning’s dishes that await washing.

All too often, just “being” is a luxury that we cannot afford. Our go-go-go existence urges us to stay busy doing one thing after another. Doing is our religion, and we kneel at its altar daily.

Our minds are inundated with thinking,  an anathema to just being and dwelling in the moment.  The groceries,  picking the kids up from school,  the upcoming school board meeting and tonight’s soccer game flood our minds. But, what if we make the conscious choice to embrace the art of being, the joy of being.

I intend to return home a changed woman. There is a stack of books beside my bed that has been there too long. I pass it each morning and night with barely a glance. I love to read but “doing” has taken a priority over such frivolousness. There is the bird feeder outside my bedroom window where the birds gather to eat and humor me with their antics. Watching them warms my heart,  but again the “doing” draws me away.

Today, I issue my manifesto: I shall spend as much time “being” as “doing. ” I will listen to the symphony played by the breeze as it swirls through the wind chimes.  I will revel in the sacred quiet of the early morning with my journal,  pen and a cup of hot coffee in hand.  Instead of the hustle and bustle of entertaining guests, I will sit with them, giving them the gift of my full attention as we truly connect. I will seek the mystery of the ordinary,  because in it I am apt to experience the extraordinary. I will listen to my inner voice that resides in the place of being.  All in all,  I vow to slow down to breathe in the fullness of the everyday moment.

When was the last time that you allowed relaxation to overtake you as a state of mind? When was the last time that you stopped and been carried away by the heart stopping beauty of the moment? Can you remember? You think that you shouldn’t but,  my dear,   that is exactly why you should. No one is stopping you, but you.