Last year I ran a successful year-long program called Powered by Hope. The intent of the program is to help you follow your creative dreams by powering your spirit with hope! I am glad the program was so well received. This year, in addition to new posts, I will also be sharing a few of the best posts from the program. From now until the end of 2015, you will receive a minimum of two posts a month focused on hope. I hope you will enjoy them and that they will inspire you to follow your dreams!

BE PRESENT

One afternoon, I was checking my email, watching the pot as curry simmered, picking up after my baby, mentally making a list of all that needed to be done that afternoon and pretending to listen to my eight-year-old son who reciting me a poem for Mother’s Day. Suddenly, my ever-polite, angel-like child yelled, “Mama, where are you? We are here … where are you?”

I stopped what I was doing and turned to my son. All of a sudden, everything around me seemed to slow down. His simple question had stumped me. I was everywhere but where I needed to be. I was working around them and for them but not there in spirit with my kids.

I went to my office, where I had placed a quote by Deepak Chopra on the wall.

Living in the present moment creates the experience of eternity. It is like every drop of water in an ocean contains the flavor of the whole ocean. So too, every moment in time contains the flavor of eternity, if you could live in that moment, but most people do not live in the moment, which is the only time they really have. They either live in the past or the future. If you could live in the moment, you would see the flavor of eternity and when you metabolize the experience of eternity, your body doesn’t age.

It clicked, finally. The author’s entire message clicked. And it caught me off guard. I had always read any inspirational book I could get my hands on—Deepak Chopra, Pema Chodron, Wayne Dwyer and so many more. I would find that I always felt good while reading the books and then once I put them down, I would begin to feel anxious again. I never implemented their suggestions. It always felt like another thing to add to my to-do list and if I am honest, I never felt I could meditate. My mind ran in 19 directions all at once and I did not have the strength, or so I felt, to quiet it down. The books promised a land of peace and I was scared—what if I tried and didn’t find it? Right now the books provided an illusion that perhaps someday I too could be peaceful like them. I had chosen not to even try.

As I looked around the room and at my kids, I realized I was doing a lot of “good parenting” but not really being there for them. I took great care of them but what I needed to do was be present with them when I was with them and shut down the electronic world, my future worry lists and my past hold ups and anything else.

I sat down feeling drained and then strangely relieved. I am a strong believer in the saying that when the student is ready, the teacher appears.

Chopra’s message helped me change my attitude and made me, and those around me, a lot happier. It began with smaller things. I decided not to give myself a hard time about meditation and instead began to simply focus on breathing. I wake up each morning and spend 20 minutes on focused breathing. I go out for walks and focus on nature—no iphones, cell phones, itunes, utunes, or any tunes. At least once every few hours, I remind myself to breathe. Sounds simplistic? It has made a world of difference. It is amazing how shallow my breaths were and now how less tense my body is.

Today, I as I write this, I am sitting at my dining table in my townhome in Virginia. I am staring out the gorgeous floor-to-windows to overlook a garden with vividly colored flowers and a spectacularly blue sky with a sprinkling of a cloud or two.

Today, I find myself present in my own life.

The post Be Present appeared first on Monica Bhide | Recipes, Stories, Inspiration.