Evening thoughts have roamed around the theme of time, whether I wondered what to do with time (the free time?) or how much time do we have. Subjects such as aging, nearing death or youth (which seems to be somewhat eternal in some people), often perish on our lips. Today I’ve been thinking about the quality of the time we have … the way we put into practice what we are and what we know in order to live quality “time”. I am frequently shocked by the awareness that we know so many, valuable and useful, choosing to put too little into practice. We know great things that could help us be better versions of ourselves … sometime! … the future, ignoring the immense power that the present has. I invite you to ask yourself – as I asked myself … how do you feel the present? How do you live the present? What do you do with your life here and now, and how much of the precious information you know is being implemented on a daily basis?
Kinda lost your smile, haven’t you?
Do we not treat our present wearing the same gloves that we use to care about our reservesed for special occasions outfits (yes, I refer to that preservation of things, words, thoughts to use once when the special occasion is asked)?
I do not plead here for an insane carpe diem, I rather refer to the assumption and living of the present in totality. I plead for honesty in conversations, for keeping in touch with valuable people, for eating what feeds us and for reading what makes us evolve. I plead to implement – in everyday life – the things we read, the wisdom of life that each of us knows.
Before listing my own choice of things to be respected at the present moment, I want to thank – by thoughts, intentions, words – to the people who have taught me to better understand TIME. The list is long, and my grandfather on top of it, a man I loved most and who, in his last year among us, taught me incredible teachings about time.
In conclusion, I will list some of the simple realities that I know (certainly all of you do too) and which I will, from now on, include in my present. If you consider them valuable, I invite you to apply them in your present life as well as to help me enrich the list of your suggestions.
• Our body is intelligent. Let us listen to it and respect it – I do not think it is necessary to debate about this subject too much … I will refer to the importance of the fine “tuning” between ourselves and our body. I do not think this happens automatically … if we “live” in our body that does not automatically mean we know it or that we read its operating manual. The body signals so clearly things that must be respected … from the reactions that it has when we make the wrong decisions to the fatigue we suffer when we do not know how to balance the effort or infections we develop when we do not respect what we offer and to whom. Let’s get to know each other and love our body … we will be stunned by its wonderful intelligence.
• Healthy relationships with others contribute spectacularly to having a harmonious life. I do not think that all the valuable relationships that occur in life are healthy from the beginning, but I think it is important to understand when a relationship is bad or when we do wrong in a relationship. What I strongly believe is that it is the duty of the human who sits in each of us to bring good, light and love to relationships, to help others evolve and understand what our role or the role of others is in our lives.
• We are fully responsible for the choices we make and we always have the freedom to choose. Healthy living is, for example, a choice, even if we infinitely lament that he can no longer live healthy nowadays. WE CAN. We can read the labels, we can eat less but more nourishing food, we can drink water instead of bubbles and colors, or we wear clothes that coat and pamper our body, not odorous materials.
• Nature is indispensable in what I call a natural , balanced life. I was thinking how simple and true is the communion with plants, animals, the rhythms of nature. I will refer here strictly to the rhythms of nature, whether they are divided into seasons, night and day, in hours passing faster or slower on the clock. In the city, we forget to enjoy the seasons … the spring passes in the thunder, the same as the autumn, we wake up to know that it has been a year since it is time to take presents or go to the Easter family dinner … but what would it be to honor the coming of every season … what would we be like living out every summer or autumn day …feel the abundance of life in every season. Maybe we would better understand the logic of life.
• We collect too much … we use too little of what we have … we do not know how to share … let’s not forget the joy of offering, working and living together. Let’s use what we have, from material resources to personal ones, go into deeper understandings before we launch into the endless race of sick consumerism.
There would be so many things to say, but I think many lights have already lit up in each of you. Soon I will take up the subject and debate it in another article dedicated to self discipline. Until then, let us think of what each of us already knows and the positive impact that the implementation of our own wisdom can have.
