I am very proud to feature a post written by none other than my mom. She is one of my biggest cheerleaders. I can always count on her to read my articles! She reads them – and one even inspired her to write a response. Her favorite article to date is: “Be Where You Are.” I am proud to say that my mom listened to my advice… read the rest!
Living in the Now: My daughter, Tove, learned that the hard way when her son Jordan was taken seriously ill as an infant. A chaplain told her to “live in the now”, “be where you are!” I must say, she is doing a great job of it, whether she is at home or at work. She is a good example of what she preaches.
I try, believe me, I try to live in the now. But for 45 years I was torn between the US and Denmark. At the age of 22 I immigrated to USA. I met husband there, we married and had two beautiful girls. Having lived in the US for 9 years, we decided to move to Denmark for a year or two. We ended up living in Denmark, until my husband passed away in 2008. And I am still living there.
All those years I had a foot in each country, and all those years I yearned for the ‘other’ country and for the relatives I was not with at the time.
Today, Tove, our youngest daughter, is living out my American dream. Sonja, our oldest daughter, is living out my Danish dream. I think it’s about time I learn to live my own dream.
Throughout the years I have learned to meditate, visualize, studied Kabatzin, a.o. his book “Wherever you go, there you are.” I have attended courses in Mindfulness. I have practiced meditation and mindfulness for many years, but my daughter’s simple message “BE WHERE YOU ARE” came through loud and clear.
I decided that I will no longer yearn for what can’t be, worry about what has been or what might come, I will simply live my very own life in the NOW. You see, I listened, and I learned!
Thanks for reading. How have the words “Be Where You Are” changed you?
Sincerely,
Bedstemor Hanne
I totally needed this! Its so easy to be overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle and live in the future or hung up on the past. I need to learn to cherish every moment and every day within itself! Thank you so much for that push 🙂
I think right now going back to school is where I am and I’m happy .
Wonderful advice, it’s so easy to fantasize and focus on other places you could be in life (physically or theoretically) that life can pass you by and you miss a lot of things.
Thanks so much for the wonderful advice! I’ve been so depressed over the Christmas holidays for years now! Plus this year was the worst of all! I’ve been also wondering about what is going to happen to us in the future as well. My husband and I have been married for 30 years this past May 19th and in all the years that I’ve been with him, he has never been sick enough to be hospitalized until this past year. Both my husband and I are on disability due to an auto accident by a hit and run drunk driver. He became severely ill this last summer and was in and out of the hospital for tests upon tests. They finally found a tumor and said that it had to come out! He had major surgery where they removed the tumor, his appendix and part of his colon. He works a part-time job to help out with the groceries and other things and the whole time he was sick, hospitalized and recovering, he was not working. This impacted out financial situation severely! I was upset this Christmas because I knew that we couldn’t afford it and that it would be very skimpy this year. He went back to work and things really didn’t improve too much because of all the other bills we now had from doctors, the hospital, etc. He is not working again now, he hasn’t worked since Christmas Eve. He is hurting all over and the doctor is thinking it could be a pinched nerve. He can’t sleep and he’s up all night walking the floor cussing and moaning and telling me just to shoot him and put him out of his misery. I took him to get an MRI on New Year’s Eve and now we have to wait to go see the doctor again! I sure hope that he doesn’t need another surgery! This is why I’m so concerned about the future! My problem with the past is, long story short, my youngest sister (there are 3 of us and I’m the oldest) disowned me and said that I was dead to her and she no longer had a big sister all over the fact that she didn’t get the last ticket to my Oldest daughter’s High School graduation in 2005! My daughter was 18 and I could tell her what I wanted her to do, however, she gave it to her then boyfriend! I’ve tried so many times to make amends with her and she wants no part of it! She still snubs me today! My middle sister has Christmas dinner and my younger sister and her husband attend every year, along with the rest of my family. Of course, since my younger sister is going to be there, I don’t get invited! It really gets to me that on Christmas day my whole family is together having dinner and having a joyous time while my family and I sit here with nowhere to go and watch movies and be bored all day! This is the Past that I’m troubled by! I need to take your advice and live in the now! It’s a hard thing to do when you are dealing with your family or money! I’m just hoping that I can put your advice to work for me and just live for now and not worry about all the other things. Thanks for sharing this! I truly do appreciate it and it’s something I definitely need to work on! Thanks again, Michele 🙂
Love this. Thank you for sharing.
Be where you are means that you should enjoy the hear and now which is something I try to do.
Great post! I love this advice.
This is lovely! What a great mom you BOTH are! I think it’s healthy and honest to admit to wishing for what you didn’t have, and then it’s healthy and honest to try and let that go and enjoy the day. This day. Where you are. Wise words for us all!
Thank you! She IS an awesome mom!!!!
I LOVE this and I teared up! I feel like I am living with a foot in each city – as I miss my family desperately. What an awesome post from your mom,and I needed that advice too! “Be Where you Are.”
Thank you! XO – you should read the original post if you really want to tear up! 🙂 Missing family is hard! I know!
You point of power is in the present moment 🙂
I have heard this using the words “Life is a journey not a destination.” Thanks for sharing.
Your mother is a wise woman. As a Christian I equate this with “be still and know that I am God.” Thank you for this time out message.
I really think it is a great idea to live in the now or we end up missing so much. This is something I r eally need to work on. I really needed to hear this today. Thank you for sharing