How do you be in the moment?

How do you be in the moment?
How do you show up?
How do YOU show up?

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel said: 

"The higher goal of spiritual living is not to amass a wealth of information, but to face sacred moments. In a religious experience, for example, it is not a thing that imposes itself on [humanity] but a spiritual presence. What is retained in the soul is the moment of insight rather than the place where the act came to pass. A moment of insight is a fortune, transporting us beyond the confines of measured time."

The reason for all the rituals and the stories and the building of faith communities and pathways and observances, the reason for therapy and help and expression and truth-telling is to get us, you and me, together and individually, 

To face sacred moments,
To show up to our lives. 

You don't need to achieve, climb, be good, have a certain family tree, a certain level of non-trauma; you don't have to have things figured out, or be uncomplicated, or to look and sound a certain way to find God. 

God is nowhere other than here and available and present. 

So how do you be in the moment and show up to your life?

It's different for everyone even though the destination is the same: sacred and present.

That's why spirituality is filled with practices... you get to figure it out as you go. Here are a few ideas to get you started: 

Create some space. We often fill our lives with tasks and events and busy-ness as a subconscious way of avoiding stillness and being alone with our thoughts. This is why meditation proves to be helpful for many as it creates time and space for you to be with your thoughts without being consumed by them.

Make time for things you enjoy. Productivity is a part of your life, but it's not what your life is about. You don't have time NOT to do things that make you feel alive. Whether it's a walk on the beach, reading a thriller, painting, dancing... whatever it is, commit to practising things that connect your longings to their fulfilment.

Practice courage. Bravery isn't the absence of fear, its the living of life while being afraid. Have the conversation, write the book, tell the truth, do the thing you fear to do. Courage is a muscle that builds with use. If you're waiting for bravery to knock on your door before you open it and live your life, you'll never live. Do the next right thing, one thing at a time. It will build and grow. Give yourself a chance. 

Be gracious and compassionate to yourself. Love, not anger or hatred or shame or punishment, is the key to transforming your pain and failings and mistakes and the traumatic things that have happened to you into something beyond their entry point. Hating and tormenting yourself over the things in your life that you don't like will do nothing but drive you deeper into shame and damage. Love, grace, compassion, kindness... these things will lift you and heal you.

Practice listening and paying attention. Our bias's and narratives built by our experiences and nurture and nature are only part of the story. By listening and paying attention to the lived experiences and stories of others, our hearts will grow beyond the wisdom found only in the limited fodder of our individuality, and we'll find connection and belonging in the hearts and lives of others. 

You are where you are meant to be because that is where you are. The more you show up, the more you'll have the capacity for it. 

Mindful Prompt: "If you must look back, do so forgivingly. If you must look forward, do so prayerfully. However, the wisest thing you can do is be present in the present... gratefully." Maya Angelou. 

Continued in the series "How To Be In The Right Place At The Right Time", this week with a subscription in the App.

Written by Liz Milani.
Instagram: @thepracticeco