My word for 2015: NOW

For a couple years now I've been choosing a word for the year - something I like lots better than New Year's resolutions. This year my word was "less" which coincided nicely with the serious downsizing we've been doing for four years. We have just sold our farm and packed our most cherished possessions into a storage unit. In fact, today and tomorrow we are finishing up that process and moving into our RV where we will live for the next year or so.

As we have pushed ourselves through this process, there were times I found myself unable to deal with a certain box or bin full of stuff - so I would move on to a different one, one that I COULD deal with. Consequently, there are still way too many piles of boxes stored away. I am not displeased with myself for deferring those decisions. It was a coping skill for that time and it served me well. That downsizing process has been intense and I'm thankful that I've been able to cut myself a little slack.

But now... Now we have turned the corner. We have locked the door on that storage unit and walked away for a few months.

I have begun to think that my word for the new year is "now" - that it's time to shift my practice toward dealing with things in the moment rather than to set them aside for another time.

"Now" is also a good time to let myself do some of the things I have not taken time for during this intense process. For example, I have always been an avid reader - until these last few years when I have not taken time to read much. Now I will allow myself to read again.

Now is a time to relax a bit - and maybe to even try some new things.

Now is a time to celebrate. Now is time to be present in the moment rather than worry about the future. As I've walked alongside a friend living with late stage cancer, I'm impressed with her focus on living in the present moment. In the now. I want to live like that. I want to be present in the moment. To be alert and mindful. To celebrate what I have rather than worry about what I might lose.

Now is what we have. This is the time to do the things I want to get done.

Even before choosing "now" as my word, I've noticed how living this way has helped me make the shift toward downsizing. Two things that had always contributed to my pack-rat tendencies have been the past and the future. I clung to mementos from the past because they were my heritage. Fortunately I'm learning that I don't need to keep every single piece of that history. As for the future, I used to tend to hoard things that I might need in the future even if I haven't used it yet. I am gradually learning that if I do ever need one of these, I can probably go and buy one. In other words, I realize that living in the now, in the present moment, has already helped me to downsize my stuff - even though I still have much to learn about that habit.

But perhaps the biggest reason for choosing "now" for my word for the year is because I am so tired of incompletions. I have not been a good finisher. But guess what! Unfinished projects cause stress. Big time. Loose ends make me feel frazzled so I want to learn to tie them up. To put things away. To let them go. To be able to walk away and be done.

Hubby always says there is no time like the present. I am learning how important it is to "get 'er done" so that things no longer hang over my head. I want to shift my practice to one of doing it now.

...

Okay; I've talked myself into it. "Now" is my word for the coming year. I plan to practice the art of doing it now. And yes, I know that it will take practice.

And here's what I hope. Once we return to Michigan in April and unlock that storage unit, I really hope that I will be so in love with the habit of doing it now that I will be ready to let go of more and more stuff that I previously stored away.

But now...

Now

I have this moment.

Today.