The Precious Present

I have published this entry before but think it timely to do so again in the face of the Christmas and New Year holidays. I recommend a delightful, short, but profound book entitled, "The Precious Present", Johnson, S. (1984). New York: Doubleday, that was given to me by a client many years ago that I was counseling in connection with her parents' addiction. This little book explains in a gentle but moving way the rewards of learning to live in the NOW, the present. Here is a sample from the book:

The present is what is.
It is precious.
Even if I do not know why.
***

The present is simply
Who I am
Just the way I am...
Right now.

And it is precious.

Most of us waste precious chunks of time each day with unproductive past or future worries, and miss out on perhaps even more precious moments in the present. Pay attention to your thinking and when you find yourself focused on past or future events that you have no control over now (or no work needing to be done), look around for the positives in your life right now: people who care about you, a roof over your head, enough food, a sunny day, you're still breathing, etc. So, give yourself a present of the present. As always, comments are invited.

Jan Williams, www.alcoholdrugsos.com. 12/24/2014.