Right here, Right now

“To live in the present moment is a miracle. The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green Earth in the present moment, to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now.” Thich Nhat Hanh

I was making conversation when walking with my teenage friend in Mexico.

It was my last day there and I was recalling other years when I returned to find friends who had seemed children to me, were married with a small child. Each visit I am relieved when I return to find this young woman still in school.

“Do you think about what you want to do when you grow up?” I asked in Spanish.

She looked puzzled and my Spanish is often questionable,  I tried to rephrase.

“No”, she replied when she understood. “I don’t think about the future. I just live today.”

My first instinct was dismay. What? No concern? No plan?

Then I realized that her (and the other villagers’) way of being in the world is exactly what draws me to this place. Knowing what they need to do to have what they need to have. Not fretting about having more. Not agonizing when they have a bit less. Being content. Having joy in the moment.

I have paid many gurus well to teach me how to live in the moment. Perhaps I should have paid her for the hour we spent together.

Life Student

First published in My Life Class February 18, 2013