Lately I've been going through big life transitions.  I don't think it's all sunk in yet, but I recently made some huge leaps - I've moved to a new city, jumped into a wonderfully fulfilling relationship and launched two companies.  All of it is exciting and stimulating and totally in line with my bigger life plan - so I've gotta say I'm living my bliss - full out.  But sometimes that comes with a price tag.  Not a price tag that costs money, but the other type of price tag.  The one where you have to say goodbye to life long friends, and be far from family and most of what you've known growing up.  The type of price tag where you feel nostalgic everytime you see a movie filmed in your home town of San Francisco.  That type of thing.  

And as all of this becomes my reality, I've noticed myself fading into the past - thinking about the life I've left behind, and also to the future - of the life that I want to create.  Not at all living in the present moment - aware of what's happening here, now.  It's easy to slip into this "sleep" mode - we are all guilty of doing it, where you're not really all that present.  How many times a day do you go into that place?

That is exactly what happened one day last week when I was making Turkish coffee on our old stove and the little stove top jiggled out of its place.  Since I wasn't full aware of what I was doing (making Turkish coffee on auto-pilot if you will), I reached out and grabbed the burning hot stove top to move it back into place, and then proceeded to scream in pain as my brain registered that I had touched something red hot.  Oops!

After 20 minutes of agonizing pain and cursing myself for being so stupid....I found the lesson in all of it.  I realized that I had been sleepwalking way to much lately - that I was functioning on auto-pilot way too often, and wasn't fully present in my life.  The daily stresses and challenges were taking over and I was choosing to let them take me away from the NOW.  Whoa - did I really need to burn my fingers to learn that one??!!

Sometimes it does take a painful lesson like that to wake you up - and every day I look at the scars on my fingers, I'm reminded to come back to the present moment, feel grateful for what I have, and enjoy the moment.  Such a simple thing, yet so hard to do when you get wrapped up in life's trivialities.  

With that terribly embarrassing example, I'll leave you with this tidbit so that you'll spare yourself the excruciating exercise of having to burn your fingers to learn how to stay present:  

-Notice each time you're mind starts wondering to the past or to the future

-Bring yourself back to NOW by taking 3 long, relaxing breaths

-Fix your gaze on something near you that lights you up, and be grateful for it

-Repeat