If you were to die today and you could look back on your life, what would you remember? What would’ve meant something to you? What would you be able to say made you happy and made your life worthwhile?

I have been having a lot of deeper thoughts lately on life and what living life means to me. I think that these questions are important for all of us to ask ourselves.

When I think about my life and the times that I am most happy, it is really any moment where I am actually fully present and mindful. Not lost in the past and giving my life away to sadness or regret. Not worrying about the future and giving my life away to fear and anxiety or waiting to live “if” and “when”. It is when I am present and grateful that I feel most alive and most at peace.

• When I am out for a walk and am breathing in the fresh air and feeling the warmth of the sun on my face.
• When I am listening to my girls talk, read or giggle.
• When I am eating something really delicious with mindfulness and gratitude.
• When I am holding a yoga pose and I calm my mind and my body, feeling totally relaxed and at peace with the moment.
• When I make a real connection with someone.
• When I am holding my sweet baby girl in my arms and nursing her to sleep, watching the rise and fall of her chest and her eyes slowly begin to close.

These are just a few examples of when I feel most alive and when life has the most meaning to me.

Life is such a precious and beautiful thing. We would do well to practice more mindfulness and gratitude in our lives. To strive for consciousness in a society that would have us be unconscious and ungrateful, continually perceiving lack in ourselves, our lives and our world. Amidst the chaos and ceaseless searching for happiness, what if we could just awaken to all that we are, all that we have and all of the things that we have to be grateful for?

I still have feelings of dissatisfaction with my life. I still sometimes find myself grasping for that magical moment in the future where life is so much better than it is now. The truth is though (and the thing that we continually forget is), that if you are dissatisfied in the present with what you have now, you will be dissatisfied when you get what you think will be “the thing” to complete you and to bring you happiness. The grass will not be greener on the other side of your desire.

When you arrive at the destination that you thought would bring you happiness, the reality will never live up to the picture that your mind created of it and you will still perceive lack. This is because you have created a state of dissatisfaction and searching within your mind and you will carry that same state of mind with you all throughout your life, never being satisfied, unless you can recognize it and begin to allow yourself to be satisfied and at peace with where you are now and instead carry that state of satisfaction and peace with you throughout the rest of your life, moment by moment.

That may all sound so new-age, hippy, crazy, I know, but it is true. I have seen it so many times in my life already. I only wish that I could rid myself of the grasping desires and dissatisfaction (which ironically is the ultimate desire), but I realize that having those moments are also a blessing. After a few days of feeling down, I always get a whole great big dose of complete satisfaction and utter gratefulness for my life. Being human, life cannot be all coming up roses. We need moments of humanness and imperfection because without the darkness, we would never know the light.

Today is also my birthday! The girls and I just enjoyed some yummy treats together. There was coconut raspberry oatmeal muffins, brownies and coconut apricot cookie granola in the freezer which we took out and thoroughly enjoyed. Autumn said to me “I guess this is supper.” I guess that she is right. It was well-loved too! After we put on some music and we all got moving. They were also having fun with their dress-up clothes.

Those moments this evening led me to come here and to type out these thoughts.

If you do feel like sharing your thoughts on this post with me, as always, I would love to hear from you! 🙂

Wishing you all a wonderful evening and a life full of mindfulness and gratitude!