"June starts on the 1st...."

"June starts on the 1st!?!"

This is an inside joke amongst my parents and my Aunts and Uncles... Evidently a few weeks ago my Aunt was surprised June started on the first. They thought it was hilarious and I know I would have too had I been there. But. I know what she meant. June snuck up on us! Yesterday was June 1st. I'm not sure where the first half of this year has gone, but gone it is. Time is constant. It's one of the few constants in life. It keeps moving at the same pace in the same way. (Though some really really smart people would argue that statement.)

We move too.

Did you know humans never fully experience the present?
  
"According to one theory, every human being is living at least 80 milliseconds in the past. David Eagleman believes that our consciousness lags behind actual events and that when you think an event occurs, it has already happened before your brain has a chance to create a cohesive picture of the world." A lot of people live life in the past. I watched an episode of Castle once where they had to interact with a man who was stuck in the 70s. Solving the crime involved reorienting everything in the show to trick the man into telling what he knew about an event that happened in the 70s. It was crazy, yet so many people do it in not such a dramatic way. We can't change the past. It's done. It's brought us to the present for better or worse... For worse if we keep trying to live the past. 

How bout this one... We never fully experience the "present" because we're too busy looking to the future. One lie I've allowed myself to believe is the lie that tells me I'm too young to make a difference. I'll do "that" (whatever "that" is) when I'm older. Well. Now I'm older. That excuse no longer has any weight. I've constantly looked ahead, but if I keep looking ahead I'm gonna miss the "present".

Here's another... We never fully experience the "present" because we're too buys engaged in meaningless activities. I have no idea how many hours I've spent sitting in front of the computer or the tv screen mindlessly watching something that has no impact on my life or anybody else. These hours are gone. Hours I could have used to interact with my children and impact them are gone and for what?

So many excuses exist for not experiencing the present...  Time moves. We move through time. We have a past. A present. A future. We all have a story that moves us through the past and into the present to make up our future. What decisions will I make today that impact tomorrow in a positive way? What decisions will I make this morning that determine my steps this afternoon? What do I desire for the future and what can I do today to make that a reality?

The last thing I want to do is stand before my Creator with this life is over and have to explain how I wasted the time I was given. My goal for this year has been to live intentionally. I've succeeded in some areas and not so much in others. I'm a work in progress. I'm thankful for grace. Intentionality is the key to living in the present. What am I doing? Why am I doing it? These two questions will help me live in the present...even if some crazy smart person is right and I'll never fully experience the present as it really happens. :)


Life is short. Time stops for no man. Live intentionally.