“ You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land, there is no other life but this.”
– H.D. Thoreau
The other morning I woke up early and went outside to sit on my porch swing. It was early dawn and the light was soft and cool in the sky. As I sat still, a pair of Sparrow Hawks soared above my head and to my surprise one landed on my back neighbor’s rooftop, so close to me that I heard his claws make a great clack on the roof as he landed. I held my breath to see such an amazing creature up so close with his fierce eyes and sharp beak.
My mornings out on the swing are chilly now. I have to wear a sweatshirt and wrap up in a quilt, but I treasure the moments of quiet that I’ve carved out for myself there.
It’s a time when I can really think. I love the quote above from Thoreau. This past year has been hard for my family and me and so often I catch myself waiting for some better/easier part of our life to start. I have to remind myself that each moment, even the hard ones, are important- either for the lessons to be learned and for the perspective it gives me of all that I really have to be grateful for.