If you are a parent I’m sure you’ve said something along these lines to your kids, “Don’t be in such a hurry to grow up.  You only get to be a kid once.”  I’ve said this to my daughters on many occasions.  My youngest one seems especially eager to get to certain milestones in her life – dating, going to high school, driving, etc.  I guess that comes with being the last of three daughters to “grow up.”

But what is interesting, is that I could be saying the same thing to myself.  No, I don’t want to be older, but I often find myself looking ahead and looking forward to what is to come.  In and of itself, this is not a bad thing, I’m a huge proponent of being excited about the future, but when we let the future rob us of the present we are doing ourselves a disservice.

How many times have you said to yourself, “Wow, this month has gone by fast” or “I can’t believe Spring is already here.”  How often have you found yourself in the middle of one activity thinking about what you will do next?

I’m an advocate of planning and goal setting, but all too often we move from one task to the next without enjoying the present.  The adage, “stop and smell the roses” holds a lot of truth.

We need to slow down, smell the roses and live in the moment, this moment.  We need to stop wishing our lives away by looking so forward to, or worrying about, what is to come that we ignore what we’ve been given – the here and now.  Once today is gone, we will never get it back again.

Choose a Better Life by choosing to live in the moment and enjoying the present.  Life is full of wonderful moments if we would just stop and experience them.  Will you join me in doing so?