Don’t let the magic slip away…
Recently I listened to a Kenny Chesney song, Don’t Blink. The words of the song reminded me of a lesson that I’ve been taught many times and in many different ways. The man in the song turned 102 that day, and was asked by a reporter what the secret to life was.
Don’t blink, he responded, and throughout the song continues his answer:
Best start putting first things first.
Cause when your hourglass runs out of sand
You can’t flip it over and start again
Take every breath God gives you for what it’s worth
Don’t Blink
Just like that you’re six years old and you take a nap and you
Wake up and you’re twenty-five and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife
Don’t blink
You just might miss your babies growing like mine did
Turning into moms and dads next thing you know your “better half”
Of fifty years is there in bed
And you’re praying God takes you instead
Trust me friend a hundred years goes faster than you think
So don’t blink
In each of our lives, we too have moments when we forget to be present in the moment and invested in the experiences, people, places, and things which lie before us. Life passes us by much too quickly, and if we are not careful we will miss the happiness which is always inherent in the experience of life but so often and easily missed due to it’s often misunderstood and elusive nature.
We misguidedly place our happiness upon certain external circumstances being met, and forget that happiness is a feeling that emanates from within and is not directly correlated to the external circumstances of our lives.Some of the happiest people I know have had the hardest lives, or are living them right now. Is that a coincidence? No. And an age-old truth lies hidden therein. Happiness is not dependent upon external circumstances, but inner ones.
In each and every moment, eternity is being created. The future hinges upon the choices and upon the attentions of this day. The future is but the sum of this moment. Tomorrow is but the sum of today. Yesterday never really existed, and tomorrow will never truly arrive. All we have is this moment and all of its inherent potentialities. Choose wisely, therefore, where you place the attentions of your time, talents, and abilities, for it will be from these actions and activities that your future will spring.
Be present in the moments as they pass. Hope for the best. Plan for the best. Accept what comes. Learn from the resulting experiences, and be present within them. Take the lessons you learn and change your actions today. If you take new action today, you alter your future tomorrow.
It seems we often spend our lives waiting for happiness to find us. We think we will be happy when the next milestone of our lives is complete, and we miss a key lesson to a happy life as a result.
In high school we wish it were over so we can go to college and finally be happy. In college we wish we’d already graduated so we can get out in the real world, get a job, and finally be happy. When we are single we wish we could share our life with someone and finally be happy. When we live at home we can’t wait until we can be out on our own.
Then we get out on our own, graduate, and perhaps even get married, and find that we still aren’t happy. The destinations change, but the result is the same. There is always some milestone towards which we move, the completion of which will suddenly bring happiness into our lives. We then misguidedly think that once the baby is out of his diapers we will be happy. Once I get that raise, I’ll be happy. Once the kids go to school and I have some time to myself again, I’ll be happy. Maybe once the kids go away to college, I’ll be happy? Maybe when we have grandkids, we’ll be happy?
When does it end? Where does it end? Following this line of thought, happiness is always elusive and never found in the present moment. One destination after the other presents itself to our view, and we discover very quickly that no matter how far we run, the carrot upon which we’ve placed our own happiness lies at the completion or realization of another milestone. And so we run from one experience to the next, seeking something that, in truth, existed within us all the time.
Happiness is not at the end of some distant rainbow, or at the completion of some goal or journey, or even found upon arriving at a much anticipated milestone or destination. It is found, carried, and created, within our hearts. All we have to do is recognize it taking root within our souls, and begin to water it and nourish it that it may continue taking root and grow. How do we nourish it, you ask? By the time and attention we give things in our lives. It is by the power of our intention that we either nourish or starve the happiness of our lives.
In a yoga class one day, the instructor shared a quote she had stumbled on over the course of her week that has bearing here today. “You may think the grass is greener on the other side. But if you take the time to water your own grass, it would be just as green!”
We cannot afford to go from one milestone to the next, waiting for happiness to find us there–for it never will. We cannot look over the fence into the grasses of someone else’s soul and long to be them. We cannot seek happiness where it cannot be found. We must seek it within, and we must find it now, in this moment. We must create it by choosing to be happy, by choosing to water the grasses of our soul.
Don’t blink and shut the world out, waiting for the next moment to come. Instead, open your eyes and look around. Take note of the state of your soul. See all the blessings in your life. Give gratitude for what you have, and then go out and water the grasses of your soul. Perhaps, instead of looking at the grass in other people’s lives and longing for the happiness we think they experience, we should begin to water the grasses of our soul and seek happiness therein.
Many a man has journeyed around the world, seeking happiness, and in the end, discovered that it was always there, locked away within his own soul. We need not travel the world to find happiness. We need only seek it within. You hold the key to the happiness of your soul. Open your eyes. See the blessings of your life. Express your gratitude. Focus your intention and choose your actions wisely. Walk forward into the world around you with a prayer of thanksgiving always upon your lips. Water the grasses of your soul, and watch them grow and bloom into a wonderland of joy and happiness that will give you comfort regardless of the external circumstances you may find yourself in.