Live in the Moment

I hope everyone survived the Second Winter Storm of 2014! Chris and I got blissfully snowed in for 4 days. We cleaned our garage, and got lots of work done with school, preparing for a presentation, and professional learning. We also slept in, cuddled and ate lots of good food. I felt so good after those 4 days that it made me realize I should allow myself to rest more. Or, to put it better. I realized I should have more focus, and less distraction. To fully work when I need to work, and then fully rest and allow myself to enjoy a movie with Chris or few minutes of extra sleep before the days starts. I have always been a driven person, and working hard has never been a problem. Maybe I should shift my focus a little, give rest a chance, and learn to fully enjoy each moment without worrying about the next. It is true that the simplest things are often the hardest. 

I really liked this 'working from home' scenario. Especially with such a great view. *wink wink*

Besides getting snowed in for 4 days, there are some other exciting things have been happening around here that I want to share with you. 

First, I got published in a magazine!! I wrote an article about doing a Kombucha Detox and it got published in OR Today. 

You can read the article here. 

Also, a friend of mine asked me to give a presentation at her church where they are doing a weight loss competition. She wanted me to talk about how to make healthy food taste good. I jumped at the opportunity! I always love to talk about cooking and eating good food. 

The presentation was on Sunday, and it was a day of many firsts. I spoke in front of a bunch of people about nutrition, I used an over the ear wireless microphone, and even used one of the powerpoint clickers. Talk about using a microphone and clicker to make a person feel important. ha! 

The talk went so well, and I couldn't believe how receptive and open everyone was about what I had to say. I even got to answer a few questions at the end. It was an honor and it gave me a little glimpse into what the future might hold. 

In fact, I enjoyed the experience so much that I am thinking of other ways to get more practice speaking in front of people. I am thinking of setting up some nutrition classes at the local library or something like that. Well, maybe I will wait for the summer until I do that. Especially after my spiel about learning to rest and not adding more to my plate. haha I am a work in progress.  

Ironically enough, this brings me to my last piece of news. I am starting another school, an herb program specifically, to learn about herbal medicine. It is on the weekends (once a month) and it goes from March-December of this year. I am thrilled about this opportunity to connect the science I have learned at school to the herbs and how they work together to improve our health. I am sure you will hear more about it as I go through the program.

It is neat to see God working and giving me so much grace in my life. I haven't wrote about it much here on the blog, but school has been ROUGH this semester. More than any other semester, I have been feeling antsy and just ready to be done. Done with the whole university thing, and done with having to commute to class, having deadlines and tests and homework and constant studying.  

Despite my failings and frustrations, God has been meeting my needs in special ways. He has given me opportunities to see how my education and time in school gives me the scientific knowledge and understanding to be able teach others about health and nutrition. The excitement of getting published, presenting to a group of people about healthy eating, and learning about herbs has given me renewed passion and energy for my studies at school. I want to make the most of my year and a half left, and learn as much as I can!

This brings me full circle back to the title of this post. LIVE IN THE MOMENT. That is what I am reminding myself daily these days. With so much struggle and so much excitement, my head is spinning. I want to live fully, in each moment I am given, and be thankful for the lesson and the blessing of each day. I have so much to learn and so much to do and I want to really experience each moment without worrying about the present, regretting the past, or wishing for the future to come more quickly.

So, this is me right now. Always learning, growing and adapting and living life the best I can with the information I have. 

What lessons have you been learning lately? Do you struggle with living in the moment? What are your strategies for being present?