Today is a Privilege

"When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love." - Marcus Aurelius

If we're going to be completely honest, we often make lists--gratitude lists, to-do lists, bucket-lists, life-lists, goals for the week, goals for the day, grocery lists, dream lists--whatever you want to call them, we make them. They feel good to make them, lists are motivating. Some lists are made and they sit somewhere gathering dust, while some people have the gumption to take the steps that it takes to make those lists a reality. But the lists that sit around collecting dust, get moved around, get thrown away--those lists are the ones that fall through the cracks. We make excuses as to why we can never do them. If's, when's and someday's are thrown out there and the list is forgotten.

Right now, in this very moment life feels so uncertain. We are literally being asked to stand still. Although our freedom of movement has been limited, we still have choices. There are things that we have no control over and there are others that are still completely in our control. We can live in fear and focus on how our lives have been restricted and those things we can't control. OR we can take a breathe and make the choice to look at what we still have in front of us. We have been given the gift of time. When in our lives will we be able to say that again--unless we intentionally plan it, take time off work for it, and make the time.

Let me tell you something--today is a privilege--some people will wake up tomorrow and their lives will be changed forever. That would have been true no matter what was happening in the world around us, despite that right now a pandemic is among us and we feel like our daily lives have been interrupted--which it has.

Right now, in this moment we are being asked to trust in God, our health care system, our governments-federal, state and local, our communities, our neighbors, our own families. We are being encouraged to take the time to see what is in front of us--maybe that old gratitude list is coming back and we are finally realizing the things of which we really need to be grateful. Perhaps, in this time we are looking our TRUE priorities in the face each day AND maybe, just maybe we are coming to the realization that our lives are just the way they have been meant to be. Perhaps, you have been taking your family for granted and this time has been given to you to give your family the gift of YOUR time. Maybe you keep thinking you need to keep searching for something else--if you just had that one more things you'd finally be happy. What if--just what if you have been given this time to simply get off social media and see that you already have been given what you have asked for so stop looking for more and start appreciating the life you live. Once you figure it out....that my friend, in itself is a privilege.

So, today--pause. Simply pause & take notice. We have only been given today and this moment in time. Yesterday is now in the past and tomorrow is yet to come. Answer these questions:

• What are you grateful for in this moment? 
• Personally, what is God asking you to pay attention to right now? (Do you need to focus on your kids more, your marriage more, your friendships more--or maybe even scarier than this pandemic--dig deep and look inside yourself and work on YOU.
• What have you noticed in this time of being asked to stay home & standstill? Do you like what you noticed or is something not working and you want to make a change?
• What is one thing you have been putting off that you can start today? 
• What will you choose to focus on today? Will, what you focus on breathe life into your soul? Or will it drag you further away from your purpose? 

For me I can easily answer that last question--simply taking the time to unplug, pause, take notice and be present in life. How might you answer these questions? 

NEWS: On April 1st I decided to pick up my Bible and start reading Psalms, reading one chapter a day. Today is 6 days in, and I have decided to take you on this journey with me. So tomorrow you will see my thoughts, study and deep contemplation about Psalm 1. I hope you decide to walk alongside me as I immerse myself in Psalms for the next 150 days. 

xoxoxo,
Sarah Mae