Five-Minute Friday: PRESENT

It is Five-Minute Friday – the day hundreds of people write for just five minutes on the same prompt and then share their words with each other on Kate Motaung's site. No editing, back-tracking, or revising. Just writing for the joy of writing. I have not participated for awhile and it seems like it might be time to do it again.

Today’s prompt: PRESENT

...

It’s a present. 

You don’t take back a present.

That’s what the Herdman kids said in “Best Christmas Pageant Ever”

You don’t take back a present.

It’s a present. 

It is my present.

The present.
This moment.

It may not be all that I would have chosen, but it is what it is.

I’m learning. Slowly. Learning that accepting and appreciating “what is” generally makes it better. Makes life better. Makes the present more enjoyable. 

Appreciating the present. 

Being grateful for the moment. 

For what has been given to me.

And the parts of it that I would not have chosen? The parts I’d rather were a little different… Well, I can choose what to do with them. Will I minimize them? Will I compensate for them? Maybe I can find ways to enjoy them or at least cope with them.

But whatever I choose to do with it, this is what I have. 

This moment. The present. 

I can look around and drink it all in. 

Or I can complain about the parts I don’t like. 

I can try to wish it away. But I don’t want to do that. 

My momma always told me not to wish my life away. 

Whenever I would say something about wishing for this or wishing for that. 

Getting anxious for whatever it was I was looking forward to.

Don’t wish your life away, 
she said. 

Maybe that means something like “the present is what you have. What will you do with it?”  

...

I have this moment.

It is a gift.

It is my present.

...

And using this picture again reminds me of something I wrote almost a year ago now - about appreciating the moment - which you can read here.