The Present Moment

One aspect of my philosophy of life I find challenging to following is to live in the present moment. I remind myself that it is truly all I have, but it remains a challenge. Right now we are enjoying a moment of peace in Boot Key Harbor, in Marathon. We arrived here last Tuesday. Upon our return, we found the surroundings here to be comfortable – almost like home. Almost immediately we bumped into two couples we consider friends whom we had spent time with here last winter. What a bonus!

When I manage to take the time to focus on our present situation, I smile a bit as I soak in the pleasant temperature, the mild breeze and the pelicans or herons flying by. I am reminded of how blessed we are to be able to enjoy all this. But then my focus changes to the list of boat tasks to be accomplished before we fly north for the Christmas holiday. Sandra is busy working out other duties so that we will have our act together when we head north. We leave tomorrow, and we've spent a good deal of the past week dealing with items on our lists.

We've actually spent most of our time since we left here last April focusing on travel, preparation for travel or addressing matters of one sort or another that crop up (like needing a new engine) while enjoying visits with family in different places along the East Coast. And we're still at it. In the next two weeks, we'll be sleeping in seven different places. We'll leave our summer clothes here and pack for some much cooler temps as we head north as far as New Hampshire with a number of stops along the way.

The challenge for me will be to fully appreciate each of those stops and focus on those opportunities for spending time with family and friends. Of course, we'll also be mindful of the timing for travel to the next stop. And it's not merely routine travel either. We'll be bringing along Maddie, our newest crew member, so everything is new and different for us. This includes the plane ride, the travel to homes and motels that must be pet friendly.

I suppose our circumstances are somewhat different from many, since we are traveling slowly by boat much of the time and staying in one place a few days but no longer than a few weeks before moving on once again. However, the challenge of focusing on the present moment is not a unique challenge for us. As I talk with others, I see their focus often on future plans, challenges at work or worry over the future consequences of events which already occurred in the past. I hear talk of a boss who doesn't understand, complaints about various government officials from the President down to a local city councilman, or perhaps the driver of the car ahead who is driving poorly as he tries to talk on the phone. Then there are the concerns over past events and worry about how the future will play out. All this concern comes from the expectation that somehow all this will impact our lives in the future in some negative way. There may also be some envy that crops up. We certainly hear it occasionally from those who wish they could enjoy our “relaxing” cruising lifestyle. Of course, they probably don't read this blog and don't have a clue about the work involved in maintaining all this. But there are others who envy someone's home, their income or some other aspect of life. All these concerns distract us from appreciating the present moment we live in – our only true reality. Everything else is history or expectation but not real at the moment.

As we head north to spend time with family and friends during this special season, I will try extra diligently to focus on our present moments and to appreciate them fully without distractions of future plans or concerns over past events.

May each of you who read this also have a holiday season full of precious present moments.

Captain Bob
Carpe Diem