Moments in a Day

I try to live with awareness. For me, right now (because my perception of awareness changes as I mature and evolve and grow), living with awareness means living presently in each moment. It means focusing on my senses (rather than the chatter in my head), and it means being aware of the energy flowing through me. Living with awareness means living through my highest self.

There are so many moments in a day, so many opportunities to live with awareness. These are some of the moments that happened in my day today:

Moments of harmony.
Like children sharing a picnic in the yard.

Moments of satisfaction.

Like getting a garden bed edged, lined with rocks, weeded, and mulched. Big accomplishment in my world.

Moments of beauty.

Like taking time to see the life all around us.

Moments of humor.
Like farting or burping or Mina's funny faces. Or like trying to get on a horse with your toddler and no one's there to give you a leg up so you put her on first and then you climb on the fence and pull the horse close but you still have to kind of jump to make it and you know that your husband would not approve of this scenario [you do make it onto the horse without you or your toddler falling off].

Moments of concentration.

Like having helpers water the plants so mama can do a little weeding.

Moments of gratitude.
Gratitude for a warm sunny day, gratitude that water is so enticing to children [giving mama a little time to garden], gratitude for my mother mowing our overgrown meadow (also known as our yard).

Moments of nurturing.
Like nurturing our chicks. Like nurturing my children, myself, my husband, my family. Like nurturing our little patch of Mother Earth.

Of course, not all moments in my day are joyous. There can be moments of anger [like getting hit in the head with a plastic fire truck. And it didn't make me any less angry when he said he was trying to hit Mina instead of me.] There are moments of frustration [like when I look around at all the unfinished projects that will most likely stay unfinished...]. There are moments of feeling overwhelmed [like when I come inside at 9:00 at night after finally having an hour to work outside by myself and the house is a mess and all I want to do is eat a snack and go to bed but I can't because the house is a mess].

Staying aware, even in my less desirable moments, helps me get through them. It helps me realize that everything is always changing, and the best I can do is accept things how they are. I can release myself from my own expectations, accept life as it is, and enjoy all of my blessings. Being aware helps me keep things in perspective.

And then I get moments of peace...

 
...when the kids are asleep, that is.

*Blessings*