I can honestly say that I have never really lived in the now.  I’ve lived in the then.  I’ve lived in the future (really, I have).  Just not in the present.  For as long as I can remember, I would always think of what I would do when I was older.  When we were kids, my childhood best friend and I promised each other we  would move away and live in a pink and purple polka-dotted house with identical cars.  That seemed fully possible to us.  Then, in my teenage years, I knew I wanted to move away to a big city.  When I finally met my soul mate, I knew we would get married and have a child several years after.  I had my life planned, basically.  Now that I have the husband, the kid and the dog (in a 25 lb. cat’s body), I still continue to look ahead instead of basking in all that is right in the world at this moment.

Today as Hailey and I were taking a walk, in the midst of stressing thinking about our finances and what I should make for supper, I took a moment to just look down at her holding my hand.  I thought about how she’s not thinking about anything more than this walk, right here, right now.  I wish things were that simple for adults.  Maybe it is for some but I’m definitely not one of them.  For the rest of the walk, I made sure to only look down at my feet and hers.  That’s all I wanted to think about.

I’m going to start living in the now, now.

*Original Chicago Moms Blog post