One Day At a Time--This is Enough.

"...Do not look back and grieve over the past for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come.  Live in the present, and make it so beautiful it will be worth remembering. 

Happiness is a journey." ~Ida Scott Taylor

I stumbled across this quote on the interwebs about a week ago, and it has been on my mind ever since.  I think now that I find myself in this wonderful life place, I want to share it with as many people as I can.  This quote so beautifully expresses the way I am attempting to approach life and is so eloquently expressed that I feel it MUST be shared.  You know that warm bubbly feeling that starts in the pit of your stomach and then works its way up into your chest before it explodes onto your face as a smile?  That's what happens when I read this quote. 

"Live in the present, and make it so beautiful it will be worth remembering."

So beautiful.  So HARD TO DO.

I often find myself reminiscing over the past and wishing I was back in certain places or times.  Or worrying about the future and where I am headed.  But... I think that if I just wake up every day and let life happen without getting in its way, enjoy EVERY moment, and put forth my best effort in EVERYTHING I undertake... well... the future will take care of itself.  And I've started to notice this little voice in my head... I like to think it's God.  Call me crazy, but I think if you listen you really can hear Him talking to you.  And if you listen to what He says, you will stay on track.

I just want to share a set of what SEEM to be individual experiences I had this week that merged to form a series of events that culminated in what I think is evidence of this philosophy. 

Saturday while I was at work one of my peers was asked to come in early for her Superbowl Sunday shift.  She was closing that night and was jet lagged from her recent trip to Europe.  Understandably, she was expressing to me that she was very tired and couldn't imagine coming in early.  I was scheduled to come in at 6 pm on Sunday, and had a full day planned of errands and writing and coffee.  However, the little voice in my head told me to offer switching shifts.  So... I did. And we did.  I felt nervous about this decision, because I knew it was going to be a long day, but I also knew the little voice in my head shouldn't be ignored.  You see, I had just decided to take a class that's going to cost me a good bit of money... so I told myself that any extra money I made would go towards the class.  So, Sunday morning my alarm when off early to go to early yoga before going to work early to face Superbowl Sunday.  I ended up working a 13.5 hour shift, but at the end of the day made enough to cover the cost of the class.  Monday rolled around and I was wiped, but I woke up, went to yoga, and then headed to my voice lesson with my new voice teachers who were recommended to me by a new friend/mentor, Rance.  This very same friend/mentor (Rance) is the one who is holding the class that I decided to take that my Superbowl Sunday shift will now pay for.  Rance had a voice lesson at the same time, and when we were done he suggested we grab coffee together.  I had planned to go to Starbucks (aka my office) to get some work done before work at my bar that evening, but the voice in my head said to go to coffee with Rance.  And so I did.  While at coffee I told Rance that I signed up for his class, and we started talking about what my next steps in my career should be.  A woman walked in the door, saw Rance, and said hello.  Turns out this woman was a casting director that I have respected and wanted to meet since I first moved to New York and read an article she wrote that inspired me when I was feeling very glum.  It was, for me, as exciting as meeting any celebrity.  I felt like I was in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.

And who knows, if I hadn't listened to that little voice to switch shifts on Sunday, things could have turned out completely differently.  Or they could have been the same... but I doubt it.

(For the sake of clarifying, there are several voices in my head. Not in like, the crazy, schizo way... but you know, there's the voice that says, "hey, Britt, eat a pint of Ben and Jerry's" or "sleep in...  snooze through that alarm," or "buy those shoes... you don't need them... but BUY THEM."  I do not think that all the voices in my head are God.  And I do think I have original thought.  But I also think that I can tell when it's God or the Universe or Mother Earth or WHOEVER talking to me.  Because it's usually something that I know is a good idea, but I wouldn't usually do.  Like when Harry Potter takes Felix Felixus in The Deathly Hallows, and he hears that voice that tells him what to do...   So basically, this outlook on life can feel JUST LIKE MAGIC.)