Five Minute Friday: Present

This week the topic for the Five Minute Friday link-up post is Present. What is a link-up? Essentially a link-up is when you join other bloggers and write on a similar topic. You share your blog posts with one another and begin conversations via a host site. You can head over to Kate Motaung’s page to check out other entries from inspired bloggers. Here’s my five minutes of uninterrupted, unedited writing on this week’s topic:

Have you ever had one of those car trips where you miraculously get from Point A to Point B, but have no recollection of the journey? It’s a scary feeling. Your mind was wandering or “turned off”, but by some divine grace you made it to the destination.

Like a distracted car ride, so many things in our lives compete to separate our bodies and minds. Rivalry is raged for our attention. People, places, and things distract us from our purposes on a regular basis. Email folders fill almost as quickly as a bucket in a rainstorm. Voicemails, text messages, and social media beckon us for replies, likes, and comments. Schedules fill up. Life gets busy. We look ahead like that newbie on the stage who takes the age-old advice of “just looking over the audience’s heads.” But sometimes what we need most is to be present in the here and now.

Constantly chasing the “next thing” won’t bring fulfillment. Going to “this” and showing up for “that” won’t fill us up. Retail therapy (sadly) won’t fix your problems.

One of the easiest ways to deal with difficulties is to run and cower by delegating your attention elsewhere. But when you’re busy divvying up your time to the time wasters in your life you can miss opportunities to be present.

Busy schedules can keep us from the friend who really just needs to talk over coffee.

Social media can take away the chance to spend quality time with loved ones.

Endless shopping trips and binge watching Netflix can steal away time from your purpose.

I never want it to be said of me that I wasn’t present when I was needed. I never want my husband to question my feelings for him because I was so focused on something else that I didn’t listen to what he had to say. God forbid my daughter grows up thinking that something else was more important than spending time with her.

This reminder is just as much for me as for any. Every now and again we all need a little nudge to unplug the devices or suppress the desires to be anywhere, but present in the moment. Our bodies and minds are one and should be in sync. One without the other is a recipe for disaster. Life is a beautiful thing. Every moment is a gift. Each life you encounter is worth your attention. Don’t allow yourself to look back on a moment, a day, or a lifetime and realize that your body was going through the motions while your mind was somewhere else. Don’t live distracted. Be present!