The human mind is almost always in motion.
It jumps from one thought to the next in every waking moment.
It's very common for people to find themselves focused on the past or the future and very common to find it difficult to rest in the present.
This is normal.
This is the experience of most human beings.
It's the nature of being human.
It's the nature of our being in this physical realm governed by the linear passage of time.
It's the nature of our minds having both the capacity to remember and the capacity to think ahead.
It's the nature of our world which lays upon us layer after layer of messaging that tells us how we should be,
Causing us to constantly question whether we're doing or have done the right thing.
Sometimes we need a reminder that it's okay to let go,
To slow down,
Even to stop and rest in a moment.
Now picture in your mind's eye a busy city street in the daytime.
You are standing at a corner.
People,
Dogs,
Bikes,
Motorcycles,
Cars,
Trucks,
All rush past you in all directions.
There is noise,
So much noise.
Engines,
Horns,
Someone shouting,
Music,
Conversation,
Screeching tires,
Dogs barking,
An enormous truck grinding its way forward,
An ambulance somewhere in the distance.
It feels like everyone's in a hurry.
Life these days is fast,
Too fast.
Suddenly everything around you seems to speed up to the point where it all becomes a blur.
People always moving,
Always on the way from point A to point B.
People always focused on where they've been or where they're going.
People no longer where they were but not yet where they want to be.
Ribbons of color and light streaming past you.
Humanity endlessly streaming along,
Forever glancing backward and then forward once again in the ongoing movement of life.
But what about where you're standing?
What about the in-between places,
The in-between time?
What about the now?
You turn your head and notice on a traffic sign near you an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
She's merely a sticker but strangely it's as if your eyes meet hers and you share a moment of understanding.
It isn't easy for human beings to rein in their minds,
Comings and goings.
It isn't easy to rest in between,
In the now.
But we need to try because if we can reach that state,
That moment outside the regular passage of time with all its anticipation,
Fear,
Fading memories and decay,
If we can reach this exact moment now,
We can see and feel that everything at our core is okay.
We are alive.
We lift our faces to the sun in the midst of that busy street and take a breath.
For this one moment,
We can appreciate being free of the past and free of the future.
We can appreciate being here to observe the steady stream of humanity with love and compassion,
With love and compassion also for ourselves.
And for this one moment,
We can relax and realize how blessed we are to just be.
