Sunday, April 17, 2011

Today

I have been spending the last couple weekends beginning to sort through clothes, books and kitchen non-essentials. There seem to be three options as I sort: give away for reuse, throw away or pack. Yes, pack. Just recently we sold our home. We feel very blessed to have buyers who feel they can make our space their own but of course are feeling the sadness of saying goodbye and stress of preparing for what next. I can easily get caught up on the worries and obsession of "what next." This omgosh feeling of what next only takes me down the path of being less present to my students and my family. I begin to concentrate way too much on me (which I feel I uncomfortable with but know there needs to be balance with all aspects of my life).
Today, as I was cleaning out our book room, I found a book of meditations from my mom that I read years ago. As I flipped through, I came to a page marked by a small picture of my goddaughter when she was in second grade. On this page I began to read,

Do not be in such a hurry to move on.
Relax, breathe deeply. Be. Be in harmony today . There is purpose and meaning in today.
There is importance in today-not so much in what happens to us, but how we respond.
Let today happen. We learn lessons. We work things out, we change in a simple fashion: by living our life fully today.

I am taking these words to heart as my family prepares to move and I prepare end of the year activities with my students. I want to be present so that I can remember what is most important: today.