The Present
By PAT WICK
© Another Day in the Country
It's Christmas and we're all thinking presents but I'm bending the meaning of the word in this column this week. Well, maybe not bending. Stretching. Shifting. This present is now as in "the present." Being really aware of "the present" is one of the finest gifts you'll ever receive.
In life, we are constantly making choices (in a way, it's like choosing a gift) that effect more than our present existence. I don't know how often we firmly register that we are making a huge, life altering decision in the present that will affect our future for years and years to come.
Weddings are one of those occasions where a momentary choice in the present effects our lives and those of our loved ones for the foreseeable future and beyond.
Making the decision to have children is another one of those decisions that has eternal ramifications. It's something you can't really undo no matter how much of a mess you make of your child-rearing or how stubborn your child turns out to be — it is yours and you live with the ramifications of that decision for the rest of your life!
There are some other life-altering decisions. Getting a good education changes the trajectory of your life in more ways than you can imagine. Deciding to join the military reserves for all kinds of good reasons, like getting that all important education, may seem like an exciting decision at the time but it alters your life path forever.
The code of ethics you aspire to or the religious belief you embody is another one of those mind-altering, life-altering choices. Your view of the world absolutely changes your environment and in turn changes your world. I'm convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that how you learn to think and what you habitually notice changes your reality — the present.
It seems to me, as I watch the country life around me, that many of these life-altering choices are made with very little contemplation. Things happen: It's like "oops, we're having a baby," or "maybe we ought to get married," or "Darn, I'm flunking English so I think I'll quit school." Oh, dear.
I read the other day that "we are what Grandma ate." Literally our DNA is altered by the diet of your ancestors, which means, in the present you are affecting the DNA of your unborn child for several generations to come. And what are you eating?
Here's another mind bender: What you think, in the present, what you believe, what you expose yourself to, and even how you talk — it all affects your current health (the present) as well as your future well being. Believe it? You better!
We're all in the same boat. Been there, done that! We've made decisions — some better than others — that continue to effect our present existence. Some of our old decisions are forever and ever. Luckily, there's a whole bunch of decisions that can be redone.
Changing your lifestyle is a decision that you can make in the present that has ramifications for your future. Our past decisions are still with us, but we can begin. We can decide to slow down, speed up, try something new, stop an old disgusting habit. We can think a new thought, take a smaller portion, pay a bill quicker, volunteer, read a good book, laugh more, practice forgiveness. All this and more can happen in the present on just another day in the country. Come to think of it, it's probably the very best present we can give to ourselves and our loved ones this Christmas.
