Enjoy something as it exists in the moment. Appreciate it for what it is, not for what it will be.

I love flowers. Hey, I’m named for a flower! Coincidence? …Hell no that’s synchronicity Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Growing up I loved all types of flowers, except one.

Honestly, I couldn’t handle receiving flower bouquets. I didn’t want to receive cut flowers because they made me anxious and depressed. They only reminded me of loss and death.

Recommended: The Dark Reality About Becoming Happy

That may sound a little dark, but I’m sure others have had this experience as well. You receive a bouquet, it is beautiful and you are happy to have it in your space, but then that begins to change. A few days pass and the petals begin to wilt.

Regardless of the fertilizer and water you provide, the cut flowers continue to wilt until they are no longer alive…and then you never throw them out because how insensitive would that be??? toss them in the trash and continue on with your life.

I used to dread receiving bouquets to the point that my person would only buy me potted flowers and plants. No way would he give me something with a time limit on its life. Nuh-uh. Cut flowers only ever led to the fact that one of us will end up dying before the other and someone will be alone.

 

 

Beauty in the Impermanence

But in reality…doesn’t everything have a time limit? I don’t bring this up to be a downer, but I think we focus so much on keeping things we enjoy around that we end up spending our entire time with it watching the clock until it’s gone, rather than enjoying it for the time it is present. We focus on clinging rather than enjoying.

Recommended: 7 Easy Ways to Practice Gratitude Every Day

And this doesn’t just go for cut flowers. Think back on memories and experiences you have had in which a loved one is going away, or when an era in your life was coming to an end. I know I’ve done this in my relationships with family and friends. Hell, I’ve done this with coffee cake.

We cling to the memories of experiences that we’ve had and dread the future where we can’t make more just like them…but how often do you do all of this while there’s still technically more time to make those memories?

I know I’m guilty. I once spent an entire summer dreading going long-distance. For nearly every day over 3 months I cried, worried about the future, and felt the loss of time spent together. BUT all of this was done while we were spending time together. Our time became a reminder of upcoming worry and hurt, rather than a reminder of everything to be grateful for. I was no longer living in the moment, but stressing about the future.

We rob ourselves of the present experience when we focus on a future where we won’t have it anymore.

 

Here & Now

In time, I’ve come to realize that it isn’t about how long I’m able to receive enjoyment from an item, person, or experience. Rather, it’s the simple fact that I was able to receive it at all. When framed like this, how amazing is it that we are able to have these opportunities? To have things to enjoy, love, and, ultimately, lose and grieve?

Recommended: 4 Ways Mindfulness Positively Impacts Your Life

So yes, I used to view flower bouquets as a depressing reminder of mortality. But now? Now I view them and everything else as an amazing experience I’m overflowing with gratitude to have had at all.

As best put by Winnie the Pooh — How lucky I am to have something to miss. But first, how lucky I am to appreciate it in the NOW.

 

What is something you are grateful to have in your life? Please share in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you!

 

Read More Posts Like This:

7 Easy Ways to Practice Gratitude Every Day

The Dark Reality About Becoming Happy

15 Ways to Make Happiness a Habit

25 Ways to Practice Self-Love Every Day

How to Find Your Self

4 Ways Mindfulness Positively Impacts Your Life