[PODCAST 156]: Have You Given Yourself the Gift of Being Present?

Until I built my Command Central, I didn’t really know what it meant to be “present.”

Here are a couple of examples:

• In high school, I had an early-morning class focused on spiritual and religious education. The teachers were volunteers, and it wasn’t hard to “pass the class,” and so I often used that time to plan out my day with my Franklin Planner, think over my homework, and rewrite my list (from everything I hadn’t accomplished the day before). Part of me would be listening and participating in the discussion, but a good part of my brain was stuck in my planner. At the end of the semester, when a report card was sent home to my parents, my teacher kindly asked if I could please put my planner away and actually “show up” for the class.
• When Eric and I started our family, I wanted to be one of those mothers who lived in the moment and felt joy and peace every day, but my brain would not shut down…ever. I was constantly thinking about what I needed to buy or clean or do, and taking care of our children felt like an endless list of tasks–with some smiles and precious moments thrown in, but mostly I was stressed. Default was an 8/10 on the stress level.

But once I built my Command Central and gave all of the details of life a PLACE, something amazing happened. I started playing with our children, actually slowing down and snuggling with Eric on the couch after he got home from work, and I started noticing the beauty and joy and opportunity around me.

It was like my brain could finally just BE.

I had two experiences this week that reminded me how grateful I am for the ability (skill?) to be present.

Spencer started 10th grade this week, and we have this tradition of getting ice cream on the first and last day from a local creamery.

This year, the first day of school was a little hectic, as I had several meetings and tasks that needed to be done while he was at school, and then we had 3 hours of errands in the afternoon.

Because the ice cream was a “must,” we scheduled it into our errands, went to the creamery to get his favorite double-scoop in a waffle cone, and sat down on a warm park bench so he could eat his treat and tell me about his day.

The “old” April would have been checking her phone, telling him to hurry up, thinking about all the errands that still needed to be managed, etc.

But THIS April sat down and listened. And shared a little of his ice cream. And just talked with her son who is now way taller than she is.

Then the other night, Eric mentioned that the wind was really strong and was probably going to knock several of our almost-ready peaches off the peach tree in the backyard. He said he’d go out and pick as many as he could before bedtime, and I asked if he wanted me to come with him. I suggested we put our little headlamp-flashlights on, and we could pick the peaches quickly together before it got too late.

I laughed as we walked out the back door with our matching headlamps, but as we picked peaches together, filled several grocery sacks, commented on how MANY peaches had grown on our tree that year, and talked about how beautiful they turned out, I thought, “I don’t know how I could be any happier.”

I love projects and tasks, and I do get a little giddy when I see my emails at zero. I like to make my bed each morning and check off lists and go to bed with everything tidy.

But what I love MORE is Eric. And our children. And our family, friends, and loved ones.

Yes, my Command Central has helped me to get a whole lot “done.”

But the BIGGEST gift is that I can actually be where I am. And I can feel the joy that comes when you get to spend time with people you love.

THAT is the main thing I want for you.

If you’re not there yet, that’s okay, but I hope you’re working toward it.

It wasn’t “wrong” of me to be distracted in my early years. My brain was trying hard to succeed, and I was doing the best I could.

But I’m so glad I learned how to change that, and you can too!

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