A Holiday Fortune…Give Presence to the Present

The other night on my way to dinner at Tarry Lodge, the new gem of Westchester which certainly seems to have captured everyone’s praise, I realized a simple idea; there’s little importance in where we go to enjoy the social scene. Where we go doesn’t matter so much as who we are and how we are when we are there.

Wherever we find ourselves celebrating the holidays, sharing a drink and dinner with family and friends, be it in Rye, another area of Westchester, New York City, wherever!  …we’ll continue finding ourselves in “the same place” unless we get present to the idea we have to let go of bringing our usual party wagon called “the past” and serving it up with our cocktails and conversations.

We can get ready for the holiday parties, wear a different dress or splash on new cologne, and yet it will all feel disappointingly familiar when we reach into our bag of the past which holds complaints, past conversations, stories, worries, relationships, fears, all these “reasons” that cloud the possibility of what exists in the present moment.

During a night out at Frankie and Johnnie’s back in October was when I met someone who shared this idea with me. The conversation I shared with this person, who at the time was a total stranger in town from Chicago on business, was one of the most refreshing talks I’ve shared with someone since moving to Rye, and even more powerfully, it was a conversation which changed my life.

This person showed me what power and peace exists in giving full attention to being present to every moment of my life. In being open with the people we meet and to every experience that life brings our way, what opens up is the possibility to create truly extraordinary experiences, relationships and a life free from the constraints of hesitation, fear and the past.

In these last two months by choosing to give presence to the present and living life from the perspective of possibility, I’ve regained the child-like enthusiasm and spirit for life which previously had been so veiled by fears, hesitations and judgments, all which were hidden from my view. Now I speak openly, listen intensely, love generously and dream incredibly.
 
It is with this wish in mind for everyone I share with you the possibility, by putting our attention and presence into every moment of our lives and giving this gift to ourselves and everyone around us, fortune follows.