A new week, a new start and -if you are waking up in the UK- a white, crisp snowy world awaits you that makes any child under 42 bounce off the ceiling with excitement. Mychildren got dressed in record speed with one thing only on their mind: to embrace the Monday Snow. If I ever saw a demonstration of living in the present then it was right there in front of me, as they were so keen on getting ready for a snow ball fight that I had to do up jackets and put on hats. “There is no way I can do that mum with my gloves on!” My boring, adult explanation that you put your gloves on last was lost in the noisy excitement of getting outside… I was still in Monday morning organisation mode when all the boys in my household were scooping the snow of the car and sneaking up on each other for the next snow attack. My 6 month old baby boy was obviously too young to join in, but looked as if any moment he would get up out of his bouncy chair and make a snowball of his own.
Still I was tidying up and ready to get to work, in actual fact totally missing the point. My brain was on automatic pilot. By the time the kids were gone, my lovely Australian child minder walked into the door with the words “this is just the best day ever!” She had never seen snow before and looked so excited; she told me she had been out in it already, making a tiny snowman with another girl she looks after. As she was telling me about her early snow start I again witnessed a living in the present example. Her eyes were lit up as she told me she had just facebooked the moment to her friends in Australia.
Wouldn’t it be a different prospect if we could welcome each new day with such energy? Carpe Diem, Seize the day. I’m suffering some sleep deprivation these days and can’t see clearly until after a cup of coffee, but I know that I can certainly improve on starting the day without bagage of the previous night or day. You may not feel over the moon about diving into the Monday morning, but to what extend is that a habit? To what extend are we always preoccupied with the past or racing ahead to what needs to be done. It’s not a bad consideration for a January Monday morning to live in the present and almost certainly seize that day.
