One Day at a Time

You can’t grasp time
And times you can,
are never time itself
Why configure time you cannot grasp?
-Verses from the Center, Stephen Batchelor

Christmas is the season where we’re under the gun to get things done quickly, and as the Target commercial so eloquently and beautifully sings, “Counting down, counting down.”  In other words, hurry up!  Buy those presents, shop, shop, shop.  Don’t miss that deadline of Christmas Day.

Christmas comes and goes year after year, and to me, there have been many a day suspended in time.  Like Christmas Day the year I was six.  I received my Easy Bake Oven and roller skates.  Everyone on our street received a pair of white Roller Derby Roller Skates, and we skated all Christmas Day almost until the sun went down.  None of us lost a wheel, and that Christmas is forever emblazoned in my mind.  Slow down, and take it all in.  One moment is here, and then in the blink of an eye it is gone.

I am a busy person these days.  I work a full time job, sing in a band and with an opera group, and I also tutor students in math.  I believe every moment has its place in eternity, however, and I try to relax, no matter what I am doing, and remain where I am.  I try not to worry about the next day or even the next hour.  I realize that as the years have gone by, there are so many things I really want to remember; and because I rushed through events in the past, I have to strain to remember a smile, a hello, or even a thank you from a favorite friend or relative.

I remember the year the fire trucks came to our neighborhood.  I was probably five years old.  Those trucks released the water from all the hydrants in the area.  All the neighborhood children had a blast.  We made paper boats and floated them down the stream that filled the street.  We squealed with joy as we ran through the jets of water, and felt disappointment as the last bit of water dried up.

I remember the donut vendor that used to come by selling hot glazed donuts.  Those were the best donuts I ever had and the reason I am not obese today.  None today can compare to the hot gooey pleasure I derived from those donuts.  These simple childhood memories are forever etched in time and seem just as alive today as they were then.  When you can grasp time, it isn’t really time.  It’s an eternal moment.

As people, we are always planning ahead.  This has been conditioned in us since the dawn of our existence because we realized that if we did not plan for tomorrow, we would surely die in a storm, as the result of a drought, or as the result of extreme heat or extreme cold.  Maybe even be eaten alive by wild animals.  We have a sort of fear reflex that if we do not worry about the next day, hour, or moment, it will be to our peril.

In present times, it’s easy to worry.  Many people live from paycheck to paycheck, and if they suffer a loss of income or property, they might become homeless.  So there are valid reasons to worry about the unknown.  However, there is an argument for living in the moment and taking each day as it comes.  If this is the moment that matters, then what happens to us if we miss it?

There’ve been a few times in my life where I found myself one step away from being homeless, but what  I learned was that I always found myself in better circumstances later, whether I worried or not.  I spent many years living from day to day; and through this I discovered the idea of being present.  I began to appreciate the little joys in life, while remaining focused on going no farther ahead than today in my mind.  I still made plans, and I still put money away when I could; but in my mind I worked very hard to stay focused in the now.  My reasons were few.  I simply wanted to feel joy now, not ten years from now.

I stopped saying I will be happy when I get that car, when I buy that house, when I earn that degree.  I started recognizing that my little girl’s smile or the sun shining in the window was all I needed to be happy.  And that happiness was worth an eternity to me.

How can life flow without flowing before, flowing now, or flowing later? (Stephen Batchelor) 

Therefore, the moment now is the most current, the most present, the most significant.  During these stressful times try being mindful of where you are now.  You will find this season becomes a permanent etching to be viewed and re-viewed from time to come.

Written by Lisa Trimarchi