Be Here Now ... Really?!

Growing up, my parents used to quote a lot of annoying phrases to me.

They were boomers, intellectuals and spiritual seekers, and were always looking for new perspectives and teachings to expand their minds. (My dad liberally quoted passages to us daily from Einstein, the Bible, Wayne Dyer, Swami Satchidananda, St. Francis of Assisi, Marianne Williamson and others.)

Being big fans of author/spiritual teacher Ram Dass, they often would tell my six siblings and me to just “Be here now!”(read more) when we begged them to take us to a movie or the mall. You can imagine how that was received in teenage ears!

I don’t recall them being overly present during much of the time we were growing up (certainly challenging with 7 kids!), but Lord knows they tried.

This phrase “Be here now” flooded back to me this weekend as I sat on the couch with a nasty full-body cold, wanting to be …at the creativity party I was missing …at my son’s piano recital with my husband … upstairs cleaning my office … outside working on the garden … online sharing about my Friday spring renewal retreat … at yoga class … really, anywhere but where I was. Sick. At home. Immobile.

As a life balance teacher/writer/speaker, I'm very passionate about enhancing the emotional and spiritual health of American families. And, I find it interesting that so many stress management gurus and spiritual teachers believe the answer to everything is to just “Be here now … or be with what is.” (Read more on “Being with what is.”)

Many of them say all suffering and emotional distress would end if we simply stopped resisting being in the moment. If we embraced the "Now." But, boy, when your head is about to split in two, your body feels like wet spaghetti and your nose is running like a faucet-- that can feel really challenging.

But, because I know that discomfort often brings amazing gifts, I was willing to explore this and at least take a look at what would happen if I stopped resisting my uninvited house guest Franny Flu for a while.

As I allowed myself to be sick and be with other scenarios in my life that seem “counter to my desires”—I could feel a sense of peace and quiet settle over me.

And, as I temporarily suspended expectations about work, relationships and other interactions--out went their siblings: worry, anxiety and stress.

So, it looks like there’s something here worth exploring. And, as my dad would say, “You never know when you’ll bump up against enlightenment.” It might even reside at the bottom of a Kleenex box.

A personal invitation: Do you feel overwhelmed, pulled in too many directions or in extreme need of a day completely devoted to enhancing your sense of inner peace and well-being? Join me this Friday, March 4 at Reflect, Reclaim, Re-Balance: Spring Self-Renewal Retreat. Hope to see you there!

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The Journey, a blog about coach/author/entrepreneur Renee Trudeau’s personal journey and living life from the inside out, comes out weekly.

Photos: Renee Peterson Trudeau; fresh picked raspberries from a farm on the Olympic Peninsula. These babies went straight into cornmeal almond pancakes--yum!