When You’re Gone-The Power of NOW

Kids grow FAST.

I really MEAN it. Kids grow FAST, then they grow up, and then whoosh, they’re GONE! We’ve nearly made it through another Dubai summer (it’s really not THAT bad…shhhh, don’t tell anyone!), and although we’ve actually had a beautiful summer, there is an air of irritability coupled with all the usual options exhausted (so…..a bit of swimming, followed by an iPad break….a scooter around the bend…..MORE iPad…), and the kind of “time checking” that happens in the last half hour on the last day of school! Are we done yet? Are we done yet? Are WEEEEEEEE done yet???

Let’s face it. We LOVE our children, but we also love our freedom, and 5 minutes worth of peace and quiet to recharge the batteries!

Sometimes it’s easy to wish away time. To think “God, I really wish school would start!”, or “I really can’t wait until Lily stops wearing pull-ups at night!”, “I wish….”

We were recently deeply saddened by a tragedy that hit our group of friends from our Saudi days. Two little boys taken too soon. Children that can no longer play on iPads, or swim, or scoot around the bend.

This is the stuff you see in the movies, and with due respect, I will not get into details as my heart aches for his mother, and the family left behind to try to piece together their bits of “NOW” that have been gobbled up in the most sinister way.

When things like this happen, you can’t help but STOP. And SLOW DOWN. Breathe, and take stock of your own life, and question how it is fair that you still have your kids, and someone else does not.

Realizing the “Power of Now”.

I’ve held my girls that little bit tighter this week, although I’ve also flown off the handle more times than I can count. I realize the fragility of life, and yet I am still HUMAN.

Summer may be nearly over, and although I’m not clinging to my girls in their every waking moment, I can honestly say that I feel blessed to have this time with them.

There is a MAGICAL quality about summer that for me, I can’t quite describe. It’s that carefree, slow motion, timeless feeling of BLISS wrapped up in sticky popsicle kisses.





Or maybe it’s that hint of coconut infused sunscreen, and the overwhelming cloud of chlorine that clings heavily to the sun kissed locks of summer.

Or perhaps it’s just the beauty of a simple sunset, and the way the light bathes you in the warmth of knowing you’ve been blessed with another day.

Either way, in those moments, you have the chance to experience a MIRACLE so to speak. The miracle of breathing, living, seeing, feeling, smelling, and touching. You have the chance to soak it all up, and realize how incredible every little minute detail of life is that surrounds us. And yet, you also have the chance to allow yourself to flow naturally, whether that be a moment of calm, or a raging moment of release when you realize that things haven’t quite gone your way.

You see, as far as I can see, from what I’ve learned in all these years, the “Now” is not just about the bliss and the calm.

It’s not always about rainbows, cookie dough, mountain springs, or perfect clouds.

It’s about the REALITY, and the RAW. To see that we are PERFECT, yet we are FLAWED.

The power of “Now” is knowing you inhaled life.

Whether it be the crisp, clean mountain air that makes your feel alive,



or the air so thick with smoke that you feel you might suffocate,



BREATHE IT IN ANYWAY. Soak up every moment, knowing that every breath has meaning, and every breath allows us to participate “Now” as we are here “Now”, and that what we’re doing MATTERS.

Those people that enter our lives are there for a reason. Those people that cross our paths are either there to enrich the moment, or they act as a distraction to paying attention to the “Now”.

There are countless times I have spent time with people, and not realized their value until they are gone. They may have only moved away, or we just haven’t had time for each other, but either way, those people, whether they acted as a source of comfort, or a bad rash of irritation, they all gave me an acute awareness that life is precious, and that “Now” is the only moment we ever really truly have.

“Now” is the sacred of yesterday, and tomorrow. It is irreplaceable, unmistakeable, and undoubtedly the only place where you are TRULY FREE.

So here’s a tribute to “Now”, the moment we’ve all been waiting for.

Whether it be the mess you don’t want to clean up,



the shadows that fall softly in the afternoon in your garden,



or the unmistakeable vulnerability in the eyes of a teenager,



this is YOUR “Now”.

For when time has passed, or “they’ve gone”, KNOW that your “Now” becomes all but a memory. And KNOW that your “Now” is purely and utterly PERFECT.

How do YOU stay connected? Please share in the comments below, and feel free to SHARE this article on FB, Twitter, or Pinterest!

Want a beautiful way to stay connected and breathe in the “Now”? Grab your Copy of “Hungry”-Feed Your Soul today! My book of inspiration to feed your soul!

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