by Dr. Denise Chranowski
My mama taught me that you have to always have ‘someone to love, something to do and something to look forward to.’ We look forward to the weekend. We look forward to our next vacation. We look forward to the holidays. We look forward to when that loan is paid off. We look forward to when our kids are out of diapers. We look forward to our first grandchild. We look forward to retirement. We look forward to not having to do twenty loads of laundry each week. We look forward to our favorite TV show on Monday night. Geez there’s always something to look forward to.
But this week while I was looking forward, it occurred to me suddenly that while I’m looking forward, I’m certainly not ‘looking present.’ In other words you can’t look at two things at the same time…. at least not well. So I thought I’m going to work on staying present and I came up with the term ‘loving now’ anytime I catch myself looking forward too often. Here are a few examples:
- I’m working and adjusting patients and I begin to look forward to dinner tonight with my husband …. STOP & LOVE NOW….. Love that you get to do what you love and love what you do and get paid for it…. Be grateful for the patient in front of you and give them the best adjustment possible.
- I’m doing laundry and looking forward to one day not having so many loads of laundry to wash and fold each week…. STOP & LOVE NOW…..Love the fact that you have a family to do laundry for; love that you have a washer and dryer and don’t need to go to a Laundromat….Love that you have clothes to wash.
- I’m driving and get caught in a bit of traffic and I begin to daydream and look forward to that next Mexico vacation…. STOP & LOVE NOW…..Love that you have a vehicle especially when you notice the people standing at the two bus stops you pass each day to get to work; love that your vehicle is reliable; love that you got a few extra minutes to listen to your favorite radio station and practice strengthening your peace of mind muscles.
It actually has turned out to be a fun game. Certainly I’m not suggesting to not look forward to wonderful events in life. I am suggesting, however, to remember to love the moment. We get one day at a time. We realize no one is promised tomorrow. And if we can love all the moments, the ones at work, the ones doing chores, the ones that are more mundane….. If we can love all of the moments, life is better. Enough said and have a great week!
