A new year again….

These suckers  come around and all of a sudden we are faced with the prospect of introspection.  Was last year good? Bad? A success? A dismal failure? Are we continuing on a path we like or scrapping the whole thing and starting over?

We make lists and promises to ourselves about who we will be and what we will do in the new year. And we close the chapter on the year before us – sometimes feeling tremendous relief to have this symbolic moment to begin anew and sometimes feeling like we are riding an incredible wave of momentum.  But either way, most often our focus is forward, to our futures.

Yet today, I am going to suggest something absolutely mind blowing.  Just be present with THIS moment.   There is no future without this moment, right now.   We can’t live in the future, we can only experience the present and if we can find a way to truly be mindful and present in each moment as they come, the future will create itself, beautifully, without our artificial engineering.

Intentions, affirmations, resolutions are wonderful tools to simply remind us about who we would like to be and how we would like to manifest in the world.  But they can not take the place for being here, right now, and having gratitude for the life we have at this moment.

There is nothing more lovely than consciously opening our eyes and truly seeing the abundance that already exists in our lives.  Regardless of what is happening on our journey, there is something to be grateful for : the sunshine, a friend, our health, our talents.  Sometimes, I remind myself that I am lucky that I was born with a modicum of intelligence.  I may have cultivated it, but I did not create it.  We are often lucky in ways that we have never explored.  Most often, it is the simplest of things.

We are all blessed in some way and if we can bring our attention to these blessings, our lives will always be rich and fulfilling. And by focusing on what we have and who we are in the present moment, we are living in the present moment: the only place in time in which we can live.

So today (and everyday) as you plan for your future, take a moment (every moment) and be grateful for the abundance that you already have.  Not only will this practice help to cultivate a more lovely new year but better than that, it creates a lovely today.

Blessings to you and all those you love.  Happy new year.  Happy today.