Life is Precious
"Life is precious"...I heard my mother and my grandmother say this from the time I could understand language. Most of us, if asked, would reply that indeed we believe life to be precious. But how many of us actually live our lives this way?
Sadly, most of us live as if our lives are not very precious at all. It is true that one day this life will end for each of us. Life is short as the other saying goes, but most of us act as if we have an infinite amount of time and that today does not much matter...other than the tasks that "must" get done.
Many of us are overwhelmed with the stressors of life and can't seem to find a way off the treadmill of busy-ness. We wake up in the morning with our "to-do" list already being formed before our feet hit the ground. As we turn on the water for a shower, we are already engaged in the first imaginary conversation with a co-worker or the boss. We may drive our children to school but have we really been present to connect with them? Do we really hear their little voices? We hear all the advertisements about how important it is to take care of our body through exercise so we rush to the gym after work. But do we even feel the nuanced ways our body responds as we move it?
Most of us are not present for most of our day.
If something is precious, how do we treat it? Don't we usually savor it? We know how to do this when "it" is a delicious ice cream flavor or a breathtaking sunset. On the beach we sit for long periods watching the sun fade moment to moment.
But what about all the other moments of life...your precious life? Do you slow down to see the smile on your loved one's face? Do you pause to watch the cardinal on your fence? When the warm water from the shower reaches your skin do you notice? Can you feel the breath arising and passing in your body. Dogen Zenji says there are 6,400,099,150 moments in a day...that's a lot of moments! Everything is impermanent, unfolding, and new. So...can we be present for a few of these moments?
Can we lean into this life that we all agree is precious and the only one we have?