Are you Here?

Forever is composed of nows.

--Emily Dickenson

That old phrase "Stop and smell the roses" has incredible wisdom to it. To me, the most important word is "STOP"! In society today we are so hyper stimulated with the pace of things we forget to stop and seek out what inspires us. With the internet, cell phones, facebook, twitter, ipod, ipads, laptops and whatever else you can think of we are so connected all the time we have forgotten how to disconnect. After all, what is life all about? Don't get me wrong, I use technology just like everyone else but I have learned that there is an off button.


Don't we need to find our inspiration in order to recharge our mental, physical, and spiritual batteries. WHAT INSPIRES YOU. It could be music, art, biking, reading, hiking, writing, yoga, or anything that helps you to get grounded and totally develop the art of being in the present. There are certain people that I make sure that I spend time with that inspire me. I love to read biographies about people who have made a difference in not just their own lives but the lives of others. Reading about their victories and the challenges and obstacles that they had to overcome. That inspires me.

Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day as if it were your last. The past is over and gone. The future is not guaranteed. -- Wayne Dyer

Spend time with children and PLAY. Reconnect with their innocence and the simple way they approach life. They are not thinking about the future or past but being totally in the moment. What a skill that truly is. I have been a professional martial arts educator for close to thirty years. I have a friend that I have trained with over the years that goes to Japan every few years to train with his master who is in his eighties. My friend told me of a powerful lesson that he learned the last time he went to Japan to train. His master had him watch other students as they practiced their movements and explained that you can tell the personality of a student by the way they perform their movements.

Life is a great and wondrous mystery, and the only thing we know that we have for sure is what is right here right now. Don't miss it. -- Leo Buscaglia

He said that if a student is always leaning forward and into the movement that they are too focused on the future. While another student is always leaning back because they are stuck in the past. My friend's master said that true mastery means that you are centered, not leaning forward or backward and totally in the moment. That example really helped me personally as a teacher and communicator.