Simple & Easy Does It...Live in the Present Moment

Life demands that we react and respond to daily demands of work, school, and survival in general. Alcoholics and addicts use substances to find relief from this often times crazy world we live in.

Unfortunately, the short lived relief will often times turn circumstances bad  from the substance abuse. When first embarking on a program of recovery, we need to learn how to slow down. AA has slogans such as, "Easy Does It", First Things First, and "More Shall be Revealed", or "Be Here Now".

This takes a while, and depending on the individual, it can take years to learn how to live in the present moment of life, and not in the thoughts in ones head.

As I watch people in life, it is easy to see people who are present, and those who are not. Standing in the express grocery line the other day,  a woman in front of me had 1 small frozen dinner she was holding in her hand, and waiting next in line to check out. I was behind her with a basket of things that was quite heavy, but could not set them down because she was staring into space and blocking the moving belt. I was hoping she would make eye contact and acknowledge me.

There was also an older woman behind me, who had only a few items, but I could see they were very heavy for her, and she was anxious to put them down too. There was plenty of room, if this woman could break out of her self induced spell and see us.

Finally, I could not take it any more as I hopefully waited for this woman to become aware that other people existed in her world and said excuse me, if it is OK, we are going to set our items down. She barely became present and nodded.

The woman behind me was relieved and we had a nice exchange regarding trivial banter.

I wish I could say that I am always present, however I do this too. We get caught up in our own thoughts about past or future things, and miss the opportunity to live now. So today, as we endeavor to live in the now, we challenge you to live in the moment too, be present, be open, be available, and remember...easy does it. New Life Recovery Network