Moments in the Moment

Moments That Made Me Smile This Week.

Mindfulness is basically a quality of mind that can strengthen our awareness of the causes and conditions determining this present moment, and our awareness of how we are relating to these causes and conditions.
So if we are aware of why/how things are and we can be aware of how we feel/deal with this, we can be in a pretty good place.

This last week, I started a list in my notebook of moments that make me smile...it’s a long list, and I wont submit you to all of it, but here are a few, to be remindful that each moment is what we make of it!

Hanging out washing on a sunny, breezy Monday morning.
Really enough said, how can you not enjoy getting the weekends washing done in conditions like that!

Having my little sister living near us.
Regina’s daughter is a lot younger than me, in fact not that much older than my own children.
Sadly for us neither my husband’s, nor my family live nearby and I have always been envious of those who are lucky enough to have this. I have always missed being able to see my family more often.
Family is an amazing resource, and I’m not just talking about free babysitting! To see our children with other people on hand to turn to and have a close loving relationship is wonderful. I especially love watching the amazing rapport growing between these three young people. My children have a magnificent role model in this lovely young girl, and we are blessed.
Be grateful if you have your family nearby. Don’t take for granted the diversity of relationships you can all enjoy. Not everyone is in this fortunate position.

Kitchen Dancing.
This is one of my great joys, it makes my children sometimes laugh, sometimes cringe. My husband and I even compete to out geek each other! When I do it on my own, it is bliss, and can transform into a one woman cabaret show. One of the great things about getting older is that you become quite the expert at this particular style...why is that?
So, Dance like you are alone...in your own kitchen!

Dining In instead of Out.
The other evening my plans changed, as often happens when one has children. I had planned to go out for dinner with a friend. Instead of being disappointed when this changed I made a huge delicious curry, my husband lit a fire, and my friend and her children came over. Sitting around the warmth of the flames, watching them lick at the wood, the children squealing in delight toasting marshmallows, my little girl loving the smell of burning wood – she told us it reminded her of camping. Who needs restaurants?

Sharing a Green Tea with a friend.
Sunlight, conversation, silence...Pleasure.

My Weed.
Not what you think! The other day, I was sitting in my back yard when I noticed quite a large weed had grown up out of the concrete on the edge of our rendered house. I got up to pull it out and as I came closer, I couldn’t help but think of how against all odds, this little guy had risen to the challenge, and did just what it was that he needed to do. There he was basking in the sunlight, and looking quite lovely. Needless to say he is still there and makes me smile every time I look over at him, reminding me to just be me.

My kids have been off school.
A little bit sick, a little bit exhausted. Instead of letting this ruin my routine of chores, we have broken the day up with other things we can do; making sock puppets out of hand-me-downs, teaching the kids to sew button eyes on, and then getting back to my stuff, while they play with them for hours.
We redecorated their upstairs area, giving them heaps of enjoyment, moving furniture around, being creative. (and I got to get in a good clean up!) Kids are such a great example of impermanence and mindfulness. Everything changes, moments are just moments.
I also smiled when they went back to school, thank the goddess for impermanence!

My husband was standing in a ray of sunlight.
He commented on how nice it felt to just stand there and soak it up, so I snuck up behind him and stole some, and got to share a hug at the same time.

Sunday Family Roast Lunch.
Always makes me smile. It started out as dinner, but with the rush to clean up and get kids organized in the early evening, it just naturally morphed into lunch. We all enjoy having the time to sit down together and talk with none of the weekly evening distractions.
We have a ritual called “roses and thorns”. Telling each other what has been great in our week, and also being able to talk about something that was not. We make a point of concentrating on the roses as the thorns can become a bit of an excuse to complain...which we had to nip in the bud, so to speak! Actually, the thorns just naturally fell away once we all got the hang of it.
Another element that I particularly enjoy is the follow up Sunday dinner, simply left-overs or toasted sandwiches. What a relaxing Sunday afternoon!

We could all take note, or make notes of the things that make us smile. The small beautiful things that fill our beautiful lives.
They remind us of how each moment just is that, a perfect moment right now.

suzy x