Every moment is precious. That is the message I received as I lay quietly in bed this morning, opening myself to inspiration. As I woke up early this morning, I wondered if I should get out of bed or spend more time with my loved one. My usual instinct would be to “fill the time”. Either get out of bed to do work or browse the internet. Empty time seems to bother us, make us antsy and uncomfortable. So when I asked the question to the universe, what should I do right now? The answer was not any specific action or task. The answer was that every moment is precious.
It became clear that if we live with the belief that every moment is precious, special, and holy, that we will be naturally guided to live our lives fully, in appreciation, and in resonance with Source and our happiness. We tend to judge each moment of our lives as good or bad, as preferable or undesirable. We don’t like the moments when we’re getting out of bed, driving to work, doing errands and chores, busy at work, and on and on. We favor the moments when we are supposed to be happy such as weekends, being with friends, on vacation, etc. We neglect or do everything possible to avoid moments when there is nothing going on or nothing to do.
By judging each moment based on external circumstances and expectations of what is a good or bad moment, we cannot be happy. We certainly are not happy or present during what we would consider unpleasant moments. During moments when we should be happy, if it does not meet our expectations, then we are even more unhappy. And we can’t stand the moments when there is nothing going on, because in an action and material driven world, we feel like every moment needs to be spent like currency either doing something “good” or “fun” or doing something not enjoyable but “productive” like work to support us to do something “enjoyable”.
The truth is, meaning and joy and happiness cannot be bought or earned or saved up. It is intrinsic to every single moment. It is there all along but we refuse to be still long enough and present enough to appreciate it. It doesn’t matter if you are doing something mundane, like lying in bed, or getting up to brush your teeth, or washing the dishes, or driving to work. Every moment is holy. Rather than habitually judging each moment based on ego expectations, simply let it be. Ironically, when we live each moment with appreciation and without expectations, we live life more meaningfully and joyfully, not only because we are present and appreciating all the little things, but also because we are inspired and guided to creative and spontaneous action. Rather than the ego’s fear that we would become boring and complacent, we become more alive and fearless. When we don’t put so much pressure on ourselves to be having “fun” and just trust the universe, we actually have more fun.
What I found is that if you really feel and believe that every moment is precious, it is a very powerful belief, because it resonates with appreciation and with Source, and you cannot hold that belief and at the same time hold judgment or dissatisfaction or worry about the future. Source, I imagine, cherishes every second, and every millisecond, of this vast universe of space and time, as holy and perfect in every way.
A good way to get into the mindset of appreciating every moment as precious is to ask, if this was my last day of this life, how would I feel in this moment? You wouldn’t spend that time trying to “kill time” doing work or finding work to do. Nor does it mean you would need to do something extreme or crazy. But if you really imagine what it would be like if it was your last day, you would appreciate every moment. You would take time to really cherish who you love, no matter what you are doing. So this morning I decided to spend the extra half hour before my alarm went off in bed hugging the one that I love, no expectations of the moment, just appreciating the warmth and love in that hug. A holy moment.
