In a Hurry?

I like to sit back on the trunk of my car and look at the stars above. When I look into the sparkling specks of light against the dark sky, I see the infinite beauty of our universe. Lately I've been feeling like I need my own space, but that doesn't mean that I need to live alone or run away from the busy city. It's more like creating my own space within myself. Looking at the sky gives me the sense of being in a holy place- a place filled with nothing but the sound of the ever expanding universe...Do you ever do this? Although it's hard to stop my mind from thinking and playing snippets of life, future plans and dreams or going over past conversations in my head, the need of relaxing my mind overcomes me. We all need to stop, breathe and relax. Our world has become obsessed with the speed of things- with shortcuts. It seems that as time goes by we want things to cook faster, to deliver faster, we want faster computers, faster ways of meeting people. It seems as though we are in a hurry to live and at the same time we are forgetting to live and enjoy all the little details of life, of using our five senses to the fullest. By living in such a hurry we miss out on the little things that make our experiences our own. We feel that everything should go as planned, but life can not be controlled. Like they say, "If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans." Now, I am not saying that we shouldn't plan, I think that having a plan is necessary for leading a successful life. I'm defining "Success" as the state of being that makes us genuinely happy. Not based on material possessions, physical "beauty", income, or status. What I mean by happiness is the peace within ourselves. When we accept, love and understand who we are, that's when true happiness exists. I think I was confusing happiness with other things in life that I later understood were not necessary to make me smile or feel successful. Even though, I feel like I always knew the difference, I let myself be distracted by the overload of information and everyone else's formula for Success. What I am trying to say is that if we look at life for what it IS- a moment in time that we get to be part of and leave our mark, if we are conscious of every movement of our body and every thought, we will become conscious beings and therefore have a stronger presence in this world. When we place all of our attention on ONE thing, we give it our all. And I am sure that we will have a greater enjoyment of whatever we do. How do you feel, when you are out to dinner with a friend and while conversing you two have your phone in your hand checking your page, responding to comments, texting...we are all guilty of not giving our full attention to what is going on right that moment. Now, don't you think that if we just put away our phones and gave our friend our undivided attention the experience would be greater? Remember there was a time when we didn't have cell phones, we can survive without them. When we divide our attention we get exhausted and do everything half way. All I'm saying is that we need to slow down a little, take in deep breaths of fresh air, leave all of our technology at home and take a walk in the evening and just feel the beauty of the simplicity of life. Just you, the air, the sky, the trees and all of nature around...and your will see that when your mind is free to think- It will.

Vanessa Ri