This Moment

Last weekend I went to my daughter’s last parents weekend before she graduates in May. In preparation for the weekend, we discussed the plans and of course checked the weather to inform our packing decisions. It was supposed to rain all day for the Saturday football game and the home team (our team) was predicted to lose in a full blowout. Well, it turned out that it was a beautiful sunny day (as you can see) and our team only lost by one point in overtime. It was super exciting and yet another reminder that we really do not know what is coming next. 

We spend so much time and energy worrying about and predicting what might happen in the future that we often cheat ourselves out of the present moment; the one sure thing.

As we moved through practice last week I reminded students often that THIS moment is THE MOMENT. All the time we spend worrying about the future and trying to predict what is coming next usually comes at the expense of what is happening right now. I asked them to practice this on the mat by not predicting the next pose; even when we were on the second side and they easily could, because whatever we practice we get better at…. even not trying to predict the future!

Of course, there are plenty of times when we need to think ahead, but the opportunity is to cultivate an understanding of when it serves and more importantly when it doesn’t. Yes when thinking about what to pack based on a forecast. However, worrying about outcomes we cannot control (like a football game), perhaps not. We can choose to preserve our present moment; it is truly a gift, our only sure thing, and our reminder that THIS moment is THE MOMENT.