A Reminder on Enjoying the Moment

Do you ever stop from the 'busyness' of life to enjoy the moment? There's an expression, 'stop and enjoy the smell of the roses'.  How often do you take time to just be present, enjoying the moment and not thinking about anything else?

I had a simple reminder of this on Friday 29th April 2011, with the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.  Alas, no I wasn't invited to attend the wedding, I did, however, manage to stop to enjoy the moment with my 3 daughters in Bali. Initially, when I heard the news of the Royal Wedding, I thought 'well I won't be in the UK at the time and there's no public holiday in Singapore or Bali, so I'll be working.'  Then, my British friend in Bali said "Wouldn't it be nice if we celebrated the Royal Wedding, so our children can remember this significant event?" So I thought 'why not?'  We can stop to enjoy the moment and celebrate wherever we are.

I took the late flight from Singapore, having worked the week there and arrived in Bali at 1am, ready to enjoy the wedding later on that day.  We couldn't find any British flags to fly, so my friend compromised with red, white and blue balloons and we attempted to make red, white and blue cup cakes which turned out pink, white and brown.  This didn't deter our plan to enjoy and celebrate the marriage of Britain's future King and Queen.

Amazingly, all our children aged from six upwards were transfixed watching the whole of the Royal Wedding.  With tears in our eyes to mark such a memorable occasion and champagne to celebrate, we were glad to take time out and watch as it happened live, rather than use the excuse 'we were too busy' or 'we live in Bali' so we couldn't stop to enjoy the moment.

Live in the present,
Launch yourself on every wave,
Find yourself in each moment .....
Henry David Thoreau

How often do you stop to enjoy the present, rather than being somewhere else in your mind? Make the most of every moment you have, rather than ignoring and missing it before it is too late.

Janet