The Now...with Gusto

My two grandsons, ages 6 and 7, and I beat-feet riding a longer distance than usual on our three bicycles to outrun an incoming thunderstorm.  Old Grandma, in my mind's eye, looked a bit like a hippo paddling a storm tossed lake with gale force winds swinging the canoe as I huffed and puffed and pushed to pedal the bike...all the while muttering, Dear Power Above, please don't let me keel over.  The little men with determination on their side pedaled with great strides and periodically stopped to give Ol' Grandma a chance to catch up.  The dark clouds swept closer and the wind kicked sand and dirt into small swirling dervishes as we strove to keep-on-keeping-on until their apartment was reached.  Worn out, but full of the joy of camaraderie, we put the bikes away and waddled inside.  They and their mom had been invited to an amazing blue-ribbon resort, The Yellowstone Club, and they were full of eager anticipation for this delightful summer adventure to begin early the next day.  With their trip, I would find myself using my free days to handle a few chores I'd put on the back burner.

 

Following an office cleaning job, my energy levels dipped and I drug myself home to lounge in a hot bath.  Suddenly the pulled thigh and knee muslces roared into raging leg cramps.  As I worked with different body positions, I spoke with the Power Above, imagining what the newspaper headline might be the next day.  "Elderly women rescued from tub by paramedics responding to the forlorn cries of her two dogs and cat."  Not so much over my plight because they have a most well adjusted connection with the All That Is, but lamenting the absence of a thumb to open the pet food cans.   Moments later, I was delivered from the agony and climbed tenderly over the edge of the tub.  Less than graceful, certainly, but functioning.

 

The next day I helped pack my daughter and her sons' van and bid them a "high ho, Silver...and glorious adventure."  My to-do list of an apartment to clean and two vehicles to detail was successfully completed and I celebrated with six ounces of "hard" lemonade, a gift from my youngest daughter and her fiance.   An ace bandage and the alcohol had wonderfully delivered relief to my antiquated body parts.  I settled onto my reclining piece of furniture with a small meal.  However, the sun, heat and missing a couple of food portions in my enjoyment of accomplishment found me in very intimate coherence with a bathroom lavatory.  Once again expressing my plight to the Power Above, I evaluated that I could tidy myself and crawl to the livingroom couch, but could I re-clothe my bedraggled body in the process with my knickers having been rather unceremoniously discarded.  Within a few brief moments, I found enough strength and willpower to dress in a semi-appropriate attire and make my way to the haven of the sofa, promising the Power Above never to become schnockered like that again.

 

Vernon Howard states that living in the Now is being mindful of actions and thoughts that we so often slot as running on autopilot.  He suggests being aware of even the smallest styles of movement and body functionings.  "Watch yourself as you turn the door handle, walk, and follow through with tasks."  The same is true for conceptions.  James Allen wrote an amazing work called As A Man Thinketh.   People "themselves are makers of themselves by the thoughts they choose and encourage.  The sum of a man's thoughts are his character and character influences the conditions and circumstances of his life." 

 

So this "now" should be experienced as new with each passing segment of time.  Awareness of this amazing biological machine and the challenges of this physical domain keep the spirit alert.  We really are connected to a grand Universe and there exists a large scale map with an overview.  Gabriele in the movie, "The Prophecy," has returned to his path as an angel and says to the hero of the third in the series, "there is a plan...get used to it."  I love this set of movies.  Enjoy this now...it is a spectacular bestowal of Grace.

 

                                "I went to the bookstore and asked the saleswoman,

                                              'Where's the self-help section?' 

                                 She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose." 

                                                             ~George Carlin