Now is now. Enjoying now means to enjoy the present. Right where you’re at. There’s no tomorrow until you’re doing the now. And the now is right NOW!
Sounds easy and reasonable, right? Well how many times do you catch yourself in the thought:
“Once my child starts listening to me life will get easier.”
“If my husband would only help me more then I would be happier.”
“If I had a bigger house, then I would be happier.”
Always IF and Never NOW
It’s always if, if, if and when, when, when, but never now, now, now. What do you have right now that’s making you blessed and thankful for? Do you even know?
I understand that it’s often difficult to see the joy in everyday life and to even catch the small precious moments.
You probably haven’t showered today, washed your hair in a few days and don’t even know what self-care looks like anymore. Heck, you probably don’t even know what it’s like to have a second alone so sure, it’s impossible to find the joy.
Totally understand. But you can’t find the joy if you’re not enJOYing every day life. And I know, sometimes all you want is a 15 minute nap, a warm shower alone, a walk outside without having to chase kiddos, or a hot fresh meal and not some quick bites here and there at 10pm.
It’s so important to take time for yourself every single day. If you constantly give and never receive, eventually you’ll hit a burnout and not be enough for anyone–not even yourself. Perhaps this is your year to take a few deep breaths and reevaluate what’s something you can give up so you can focus more on you.
EnJOYing the Now
Oftentimes we hit these road bumps and we literally get thrown off the road and forget the blessings in life. Exhaustion, constantly being in overdrive, and never giving yourself a break can easily cause you to miss the joy and forget what it looks like to live in the now. Because honestly, you might be thinking how hard life is right now and only wish for years down the road imaging it’ll be easier.
That’s what it means to not live in the moment. Maybe you struggle every day with getting your kids to bed. Sure, it’s aggravating, stressful, and draining. So in your mind you might not see the blessings of having small children you get to raise and mold. Instead, you want this phase to be over with so bad that that’s the only thing you can focus on.
Sadly, that’s not enjoying the now. You’re making yourself believe how much easier and better life will be 10 years from now. It’s like the grass is always greener on the other side.
Let go, and learn to enjoy now.
It’s impossible to go through parenting with this mentality. You will always view your child as not good enough, a nuisance, and you will easily see the imperfections and be tempted to find see the criticism daily.
Look for the Everyday HAPPY
I challenge you to find one thing you’re thankful for daily and meditate on that. You might have to stop looking at things that make YOU happy, but instead at what’s making others happy. For instance, find happiness in your children’s laughter. Take a break and laugh with them and then be thankful for their laughter and for their little laughs.
You can’t make yourself happy when you’re constantly wanting this season of life to be over and be onto the next. But I can promise you, you’ll be unhappy once you get to that next season of life. You’ll complain about the busyness, the running around from school activities, sports, and dropping kids off to hang out with friends. You’ll complain that everyone is always gone and there are no more family dinners and all the gas you’re paying for and all these complaints. So then you’ll just wish for the next season of life when the kids are teenagers and driving to their own activities but I bet you’ll have something to complain about that too.
No Perfect Day
There will always be something to complain about if you don’t learn to be thankful for the now and then enJOY the now. Find the JOY in now and learn to live your best moments every day. God uses every moment, every single day for HIS glory. And you were never made or meant to do everything on your own so stop trying to make every day a perfect day.
There’s no such thing and you need to be reminded of that. It’s so vital to catch the important moments and to set your eyes on those moments. Always seeing the negative and speaking the negative, believing the negative, and seeking the negative will only birth negative.
Enjoy now. You’ll be thankful you did later.
