Making time for the present

There exists only the present instant... a Now which always and without end is itself new. There is no yesterday nor any tomorrow, but only Now, as it was a thousand years ago and as it will be a thousand years hence.

The venerable Leo Babauta and his Zen habits blog is worth your time. I read it often. Recently he described tips for finding more time in our busy lives to do all the things we really want to do and eliminate the fluff, the unnecessary, the burdensome. The post is great. Most of his posts are.

Usually, I get a lot out of the blogs I read, especially tiny inspirations for change. But for the first time when I read this I was ahead of the game. I was already doing this (yay me!).  A short while back I remember that felt like. Being pulled in a million different directions with too many commitments and not enough time for the things I really wanted or for the people I deeply valued. Then something happened.

I started small. Little changes in my life. Those cliches I get inundated with at meetings or in conversation with friends were suddenly and strangely relevant and illuminating. One day at a time. One decision at a time. Easy does it. 

I started getting up earlier in the day, on the advice of a new friend. I started mediating in the morning. I started writing more. I hated a lot of this at first, believe me, but slowly it became a habit. Suddenly my mornings were filled with more down time and "me" time than I knew what to do with. By the time I got home in the evening, I was ready to relax with my wife or enjoy the company of friends. This was a few months back and many of these small "decisions" are now purely habit. They are just something that I do.

I like knowing that when I channel my energy toward maximizing my day and making time for the things and people I love, magical things happen. Especially when it comes to things I might not be entirely willing to integrate into my routine.

So today, I make no apologies for being, on my best days, a walking cliche.