Being PRESENT

Andrew's Christmas Gift to Me

From what I understand, the term “BEING PRESENT” refers to focussing your awareness on what is happening right here and now.

The trick is not to think about what happened yesterday or what may happen tomorrow.

In his book, “The Power of Now”, Eckhardt Tolle explains that the simple act of being present will help REDUCE or ELIMINATE anxiety.

It works because most of what you worry about isn’t actually happening in THIS moment.

Tolle also says that being present INCREASES your ability to be GRATEFUL for what you have.

That makes sense. You can’t be grateful for things you don’t NOTICE.

It is this aspect of being present that I want to talk about.

In the first days of 2012, I had a really powerful lesson in being present, and it quite aptly centres around a Zen waterfall.

My son and I were fortunate enough to spend Christmas Day with my family this year.

My brother David, his wife Young Oak, and my seven-year-old nephew Brett hosted Christmas in their new home.

It was a GREAT day! My mom, my niece Candace, my nephew Andrew, and his girlfriend Shannon were also there.

I was PRESENT (pun intended) every moment of Christmas Day – from waking up to the sound of Brett yelling “It’s Christmas morning!!!!”, to helping my mom stuff the turkey, to laughing all the way through dinner and dessert.

As if that wasn’t good enough – after dinner, I saved over $120 by ordering a replacement Dell laptop battery through eBay!

Between Andrew and his girlfriend, they know ALL the great places to order computer hardware and get FREE SHIPPING all the way from Hong Kong! Woohooo!

It sure is HANDY to have a nephew who owns a mobile computer repair company! The PC Buds is in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada – feel free to Like his company on Facebook (says his proud Auntie Colleen.)

Yes, I definitely managed to be present on Christmas Day. Unfortunately, my state of being faltered slightly very early in the New Year.

Here’s what happened…..

Andrew, that same wonderful nephew who is the computer whiz, gave me a Zen waterfall for Christmas. It’s the one pictured on this page.

I was really excited about his gift but I didn’t get a chance to set it up. I drove back from Toronto on Boxing Day, threw my dirty clothes in the laundry, packed clean clothes, and headed to Ottawa for the CTV Morning Live interview that aired on Wednesday, December 28th, 2011.

(You can see that on my Media TV page or on YouTube under My Chick Night).

The interview went really well! Laurie, my BFF from high school, met me in Ottawa for a couple of days and then we drove back here. She stayed over for New Year’s – the SECOND year in a ROW, thank you very much!

We had a blast!

The day Laurie had to fly back to Toronto, I was definitely not being present. I was sad she was leaving and concentrating on when I’d see her again – instead of focussing on the fact that she was STILL HERE.

In doing so, I wasted the time we were together that day by concentrating on the fact that she WOULDN’T be here the NEXT day.

Do YOU do silly things like that?

On that day, in order to keep from openly moping, I offered to help her pack. Oh, I HELPED allright. Without realizing it, I packed her stuff – and some of MY STUFF – into her suitcase.

The next day, I TRIED to set up my brand new Zen waterfall. It’s a really simple arrangement of parts that I had already taken out of the box BEFORE leaving for Ottawa and set in a jumbled pile on my kitchen table.

Surprise, surprise – now on January 3rd, I couldn’t find the adapter cord.

I searched everywhere.

It was ridiculous. It HAD to be here. Or did it? That’s when I clearly remembered scooping up EVERY adapter cord I could find and “helping” Laurie pack by shoving them all in her computer bag.

Sigh.

The Universe has a great sense of humour, doesn’t it? While NOT being present, I did the one thing to ensure that I COULDN’T use my ZEN waterfall.

Fortunately, I have since been to Toronto and retrieved the adapter cord. Thank you very much, Andrew. I LOVE IT!

The waterfall is sitting on my kitchen counter as a TANGIBLE REMINDER of the importance of BEING PRESENT at all times.

Let’s see how well it works.

Talk soon.

Colleen