Hands Full of Stars

This beautiful early morning I meditated outside, in a screened lanai, while birds sang and pre-dawn breezes rustled through palm trees. I could do this because, while I live in the currently frozen North, I was able to escape for a few days to southern Florida. I could smell the damp grass just a few feet from my chair. The temperature was about 65 degrees, perfect for sitting in contemplation while wearing a light jacket. If I had my eyes open I would have seen the dark sky lighten gradually and perceptibly, as the faithful, tireless earth continued on its cosmic dance, and the miracle that is the sun manifested itself yet again.

As I meditated, a phrase came to mind - reaching for the moon, yet my hands are full of stars. And once again, I was reminded of what a privilege it is to just be in this moment. I am fortunate to be healthy, not in pain, fed, clothed, sheltered well in this lovely place. Are there problems? Of course there are problems. A myriad of problems, on many fronts. But that is what life is.

I can choose to spend all of my time in non-stop rumination of the ways in which things have not gone the way I wanted them too, as most of us can. I can choose to create imaginary scenarios in my head of the ways in which things in the future can go horribly wrong, and work myself into a lathered frenzy, which I will then get all over those around me. But I cannot change the past, and I cannot control the future, so those mental gymnastics are exercises in futility, not to mention really annoying and perplexing to others.

In the here and now, life is beautiful, as it is all of the time if I pay attention. I have within my grasp at all times the wonder of now if I can just see it with curiosity, and non-judgment, and kindness. And that is enough.