Bonnie Milletto
I have learned many great lessons from the master teacher called Life, but even still I need a reminder to live for today. Here are five things that keep me in the moment.
1. There’s always time for what’s important—what matters most.
2. I am capable of more—stretching outside my comfort zone. When my thoughts go to “you can’t,” I stop and reexamine the thought. Fear, most likely has the loudest voice—if—I allow myself to hear and believe it.
3. Today is always a special occasion. I’m using the china and crystal when I set the table. The scratches and chips are just a reminder of the memories made.
I’m no longer focused on tangible things that I seldom touch. I care less about the material stuff and more about the love and lives that touch me.4. You can make a habit of gratitude. Every day I say, “thank you” to remember how appreciative I am of everything, and everyone who brings me joy.
5. We are not alone. We are all connected through our stories we share.
Children teach us what’s important.
Children aren’t complicated. And they can teach us a lot about how to enjoy life. They are excited about life, open to learn, curious about everything and not afraid to dance in public. I will admit, I’ve got the dancing thing down to a somewhat embarrassing science.
And they ask a lot of questions – Why…? How…? Are we there yet?
Children bring us back to what’s important.
As the holiday season approaches I am reminded of the time my son Courtney taught me a valuable lesson about what’s important when I asked him to set the table while I finished making dinner.
It was a typical weekday filled with all the usual things that occupy our time – work, school, homework for the kids and contemplating what to fix for dinner.
From the kitchen I could hear the rattling of the dishes and the placement of silverware as Courtney set the table for our meal.
Bringing the serving dishes to the dining room I looked at the table he had set and with a puzzled look said, “Court, why did you use the good china and glassware? We only use those for special occasions.”
Without skipping a beat he smiled, and with joyous curiosity asked me, “Aren’t we special mom? I really like these dishes.”
You know the rest. Lesson learned. As an adult we can get into bad habits pretty easily and forget what is important but kids seem to be able to bring you back to reality, to what is really important.
I talk and write a lot about what we are teaching our children and what they are learning from us. Years later I wrote about the golden nugget of wisdom I gained from my son and included it in the Five Things article above.
Let’s make this season of our life – whatever it is – just a bit more special with the special things we tend to save. Don’t wait for that perfect moment – it’s already here.
Cheers!
Bonnie
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