Being in the moment

Tonight I realized that when I cook, I am truly in the moment. I am living as if there is no tomorrow. I put all my intention and energy into the food I am preparing and the past and future melts away. I made a picnic dinner for some friends and from the time I started cooking until the time we left for the beach everything was a blur. My conscious mind was resting while my subconscious mind directed my actions and I prepared food in a relaxed, natural way. I used to feel this way doing during my ceramics class; as soon as I would arrive to class and get started on my project, time and worries would melt away and I would be single-mindedly focused on the task at hand. I think this is so important for our mental well-being and is a cornerstone of Buddhism; to be in the present moment only.

So much of the time we are reflecting on the past or worrying about the future, instead of enjoying the present moment. The present will pass quickly enough, friends move on, food is eaten, but to fully enjoy it is to get the most out of it. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-8), Jesus said, "don't be anxious for tomorrow, look at the lillies of the field, they don't spin and yet even Solomon was not robed as beautifully as they." To be in the moment is to be fully trusting God and to be fully involved in your role here on earth. We spend so much time worrying about how we can change the future when we could be focusing on how to enjoy and fully experience the present. Certain hobbies can help us to do this, and also it is important that we find interests that we can put our whole heart into. It is so sad to go through life half-hearted about things that we do, when God has a destiny for each of us that calls out the best parts of us.