Take Your Eyes Off The Clock We have a set of trees in the yard with flowers whose bloom always sneaks up on us. By mid-August, the side of the yard is covered in the pink and purple and blue flowers stretching high and low, from one end of the fence to the other. It’s always been a symbol to me that summer is almost over. In my school years I looked at that array of flowers feeling bittersweet, but as I’ve gotten older and those flowers no longer mean impending homework and lectures and freedom, I still see them as the beginning of the end, of the season changing and me perhaps not being ready to say goodbye.
But life and time and are lot like driving a car. While all our mirrors are necessary, it’d be dangerous if we only kept our eyes in the rear view or if we stared ahead as far as we could see without paying attention to what is happening in front of us. It’s the time of the year where it seems the clock starts to tick, and maybe you have children who are feeling bittersweet about heading back to school and maybe you’re a parent eager to get them out the door, but don’t forget the here and now...
Mindfulness is the practice of being where your feet are. It is experiencing every moment at its fullest and studies have shown it results in happier, healthier people with a change in perspective and gratitude. The cares and worries of life may not be bigger or smaller in one moment to the next, but are you doing everything you can to get the best out of right now? Do you take the time to feel joy in the laughter and the feel of the sun on your skin and notice that the trees as bright and vibrantly green as they’ll be for the rest of the year? Are you taking the time to truly acknowledge the people and the things around you, the things you feel, touch, taste? Are you just walking through your life or are you stopping to enjoy the show.
Summer’s not over yet. What can you do to enjoy what’s left of it? The clock is always ticking, but time means opportunity. Time means another day to do something more. Use it to the fullest. Be here. Be now.
Whether it’s flowers blooming in your yard or ice cream cooling you down on a hot day, sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses.
Paige Agnew
