Most of us have heard the expression, Live each day as if it is your last. Choosing to live your day with this in mind helps you recognize what it truly important in your life.
With this perspective, it is easier to remember to pause and attend to what really requires attention—like pausing in the middle of an activity to acknowledge my husband and give him a kiss. It is easier to stop in the middle of my sentence to laugh at something funny happening around me, without attachment to what I felt was so significant about what I was saying.
Attending to what is “really” important bring greater ease and flow in life. Plus, it’s just more fun.
Beginner’s mind
And so is living each day as if it is your first. Some call this beginner’s mind. This is when you recognize that each moment is a moment to begin again. Each moment offers the mystery of life to be discovered and explored.
For some time I kept a box of colored markers on my desk to remind me that everything that has been created can be recreated. Children know that they can create new worlds over and over with their colored pens and crayons, and so these child-like tools help me remember that everything I need to recreate my life is within my grasp.
Even if I have failed at something a dozen times, one moment of clear, pure and loving consciousness changes everything. When I am facing a task with a history of perceived failures, I challenge myself to sink into the moment and become present as though this is the first moment that has ever existed.
I remind myself about how enthusiastic children are in approaching life. Whatever they do, they do with the fullness of their little beings.
Children are powerful teachers
In a restaurant the other day, I watched as two little kids played peek-a-boo with each other by pulling their shirts up over their heads. They were oblivious to the world around them, unaware of anything that had happened earlier in that day or anything that might be happening soon.
Later, my husband and I laughed as a little guy did a crazy little step as he walked down the street. He was completely present to the joy of the moment he was creating with his own unique way of walking. He wasn’t even aware that we were chuckling, caught up in his moment of abandonment.
Children know how to be present to the moment. They will do something over and over again, until they have mastered it, and not necessarily because they think they “have” to do it. Frequently, they seem to be entirely entertained as they practice.
Think about a child sliding down a snowy hill. The first time they might not get much momentum going down the hill because they are scared. The second time they slip off the edge of their sled, having gotten only half-way down. The next time they get to the bottom of the hill quite competently. But the fourth time they decide they want to go down with their buddy, and the two of them fall off before they get very far.
Each time, they are squealing with delight. They aren’t failing at anything. They are having a great time learning all the nuances of sliding down a snowy hill.
We can bring this same sense of delight in learning into our own lives as we fulfill our purpose, attract our life-partner, create prosperity and even our heal. How does your perspective about living change when you think about it as a great challenge (like staying on your sled all the way to the bottom of a heal). How does your experience change if you laugh at yourself when you fall off, trudge back up the hill to start again, and enjoy the ride as you remain firmly focused on you destination?
Healing the inner child
If you were emotionally wounded in your childhood, you might need to reclaim the spirit within in order to fully feel the adventurous, and joyous spirit of your child self. It is the child spirit within that leads us fearlessly into the unknown—the spiritual mysteries of life, and it is the child spirit within that trusts fully in Divine love.
The sense of trust in Divine love and adventure in life are required for greater spiritual consciousness and awakening. In many cases, healing the spirit of the inner child is necessary for healing the spirit of the adult, which in turn provides the required strength and perspective for physical and emotional healing.
Some years ago, I was given a beautiful Inner Child Healing program from my elder Gretchen Schulz, who received it from St. Germain. It has helped numerous individuals experience a greater sense of inner peace and healing from the wounds of childhood. You just might need to tend to the needs of the wounded child spirit before you are able to feel as much adventure and joy as you would like to feel.
Whether you need to heal your inner child, or you feel ready to jump into the adventure with all the enthusiasm of a child, I invite you to consider the practice of living as if each day is your last, discovering what is truly important about each day, and also living as if each day is your first—with all the enthusiasm of child experiencing each moment for the very first time.
