Live in the moment?

Many people make it a point to throw out and around the advice "Live in the moment, love every moment of your life, choose to be happy with what you're doing when you are doing it, enjoy every day- each day, and smile frequently".  I have, probably on more frequent occasions then I dare to admit, thrown around that advice. And not only have I thrown around that advice, but I have latched onto it like a leech in an attempt to be completely and utterly happy. I have found myself hanging on the last fraying thread of some days yelling at myself in my head of course ENJOY THE MOMENT, THIS IS YOUR LIFE, CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY!

Don't get me wrong, I think that happiness is of extreme importance. So important, in fact, that I have urged every single viewer of this blog to figure out what in life would make them completely happy- and to go for it. But I have, as of late, come to the conclusion that it is not always realistic to live in every moment of our lives completely enjoying them.  In fact, I think we all live moments of our lives where we have come to the end of all we feel we can manage, and we want to scream  I GIVE UP, I CAN'T DO THIS! And I'm here to say I think that it is perfectly okay to feel that way.

I recently read an article by a Mom who talked about this very idea. She shared how people frequently tell her to seize the day of her children being little, because all too soon they will be grown and gone. And, although I believe it is good advice at it's core, I think it leaves far too many women- far too many people in general- feeling like complete failures.

We live in a fast-paced, over-demanding culture where, to get by, we must move 100 miles an minute, make 100 dollars a minute and complete 100 tasks a minute to be successful. In our culture we must continually strive to better ourselves, to put more money in our pockets, to complete more tasks, to move up in the workplace- just to survive.  If we sit idly by, we will get eaten alive. And this same culture screams at us to ENJOY YOUR LIFE- LIVE IN THE MOMENT- LIVE FOR TODAY! We constantly and continually hear "It goes too fast, life goes way too fast." And I agree, it does. Seasons of our life are often over before we even realize they have begun. But I often find myself wondering if anybody realized that life goes too fast because we are constantly moving just to get by.

Think of the moments you hold most near and dear to you. The moments which you wish you could go back to and live in forever, and ever, and ever. Both of the moments that immediately came to my mind were the ones in which I was allowed- if only for a fleeting second- to slow down. Everyone in the moments with me was allowed the opportunity to just live for joy. No pressures, no fast-paced living, no task-completion-before-tomorrow. Just truly living. And those are the moments I "live in", the moments I soak up, the moments I love.

I'm making an effort, as my life continues to race by, and I continue to immediately jump to "I'm not happy, what do I do, I'm not loving every moment of every day, I need to make a change now!" to remember that it is okay to not be completely happy in the moment if the moment is leading to a lifetime of happiness. It is o.k. to not be completely enjoying this living, breathing moment when you're not wishing that life- as it is in this instance- would continue forever. Nothing is wrong with being in those moments and admitting to yourself that it isn't exactly where you want to be.

Because it is, in fact those not-so-great moments that cause us to thoroughly enjoy the moments we can bask in forever. Those moments of struggle that often lead us to a life of joy. So if, every now and then, you experience such a moment- don't fear. And don't beat yourself up over it either.

"Life's not always beautiful, but it's a beautiful ride."