Life Is Now

Photo by John D. (CC BY 2.0)


Written by Raymond Salas



Do you ever feel like you are delaying or putting off enjoying your life until something else happens or changes for you...or gives you permission in some way?

A few years ago, I purchased a pair of Levi's SilverTab jeans. After I got them home, I noticed that they had a tag on them saying that they were specially treated. Therefore, Levi's recommended that they should not be washed often or the look of the jeans might be altered.


"OK, fair enough," I thought. So, I decided that I should only wear these jeans for special occasions or whenever the opportunity felt right. After all, I didn't want to have to wash them unnecessarily and change the way they look. (nice lizard brain thinking, I know!)


There my cool pair of jeans hung, perfectly in the closet, until the right moment came along.


Flash forward to the present...recently, I gathered up some clothes and other items from my closet to give away to charity, the ones that I no longer wore, used, or needed. I came across my pair of SilverTab jeans from a few years ago, still hanging in my closet, still in perfect condition.


Then, it occurred to me that I ended up never really wearing these jeans much, except maybe a few times over the years. I had saved them for the ideal circumstances or opportunities...that never came.

I started to ponder:

How often do we delay our happiness until what we believe are the right or ideal circumstances?

How often do we delay our happiness until some future event or changes happen?

How often do we choose to live this way in the different areas of our lives?


I realized that no matter how you look at it...LIFE IS NOW!

What are we waiting for?

"Remind yourself each day of your life, 'This day will never come again.'" - Caroline Myss

Here are other ways that we delay our happiness now:

Are you saving the enjoyment of using the "good" china or "special" outfit or anything else for some special occasion or future event?

Use it now. Enjoy it now.

Are you putting off forgiving anyone, past or present?

Forgive them now. You may not get another chance.

Are waiting to tell someone you love them?

Guess what? That opportunity may never come. Do it now.

Life is now...and all of the so-called "small" or seemingly "insignificant" moment-by-moment experiences daily are what actually make up the content of our total life experience.

In other words...while we are waiting for big things to happen or change in order for us to be happy, our life is happening and passing us by.


Author and professor, Leo Buscaglia used to share this story from an 85-year old man who found out he was going to die:

"If I had my life to live over again, I'd try to make more mistakes next time. I wouldn't try to be so perfect. I would relax more. I'd limber up. I'd be sillier than I've been on this trip. In fact, I know very few things that I would take so seriously, I'd be crazier. I'd be less hygienic. I'd take more chances, I'd take more trips, I'd climb more mountains, I'd swim more rivers, I'd watch more sunsets, I go to more places I've never been to. I'd eat more ice cream and fewer beans. I'd have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary ones.

You see, I was one of those people who lived prophylactically and sensibly and sanely hour after hour and day after day. Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had to do it all over again, I'd have more of those moments. In fact, I'd try to have nothing but beautiful moments - moment by moment by moment.

I've been one of those people who never went anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a gargle, a raincoat, and a parachute. If I had to do it all over again, I'd travel lighter next time. If I had to do it all over again, I'd start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I'd ride more merry-go-rounds, I'd watch more sunrises, and I'd play with more children, if I had my life to live over again. But you see, I don't."


Life Lesson: Life is now.

What we choose to do with it is entirely up to us.

"Everything that I think that I need to do is all only in order to propel me to some place that when I get there, I think I will be happier. So, everything that I am doing, no matter what it is, all of my lists of rights and wrongs… are all about me getting to a manifestation that I believe I will then be happier... So, why don’t I take a short cut and just go get happy (now)?" 

- Abraham-Hicks