Be Where Your Feet Are

You can be standing at the edge of the ocean and still be a hundred miles away.

Thinking about Monday. Replaying a conversation. Reaching for your phone before you’ve even noticed the color of the water.

Then a small wave reaches your ankles.

The water is cool. The sand shifts beneath your heels. You hear the soft rush of the shoreline, and for a moment, your attention returns to the place your body has been all along.

Here.

There is something worth practicing in that small return.

Be where your feet are.

We spend so much of our lives traveling through time in our minds. Revisiting what we should have said. Preparing for what might happen. Imagining the version of life where everything finally settles down enough for us to enjoy it.

Meanwhile, the coffee is getting cold. Someone we love is telling a story. The evening light is moving across the room.

A whole beautiful life is happening while our attention is elsewhere.

Presence gives us a chance to participate.

Think about a quiet morning at the beach. The warm sand farther from the water. The darker, firmer strip along the shore. A breeze that carries a little salt. The horizon stretching beyond anything you need to figure out today.

You could spend an hour there and remember almost nothing.

Or you could give one ordinary minute your full attention and carry it home with you.

That same possibility exists in the middle of your everyday life.

Feel the warm water while you wash your hands. Taste the first sip. Listen long enough to hear what someone is really saying. Walk a little while with your phone in your pocket and notice what’s growing along the way.

Abundance becomes easier to recognize when we’re available to notice it.

The things we treasure often arrive quietly: an unhurried meal, a familiar laugh, a few minutes outside with nothing competing for our attention. We can make room to experience them as they happen.

There is faith in this, too.

We can trust God with the days we haven’t reached while caring for the day we’ve been given. We can make our plans, take the next responsible step, and allow ourselves to enjoy the afternoon.

Try this once today:

Set your phone down. Feel your feet resting on the ground. Take one comfortable, unhurried breath.

Notice something you can see, something you can hear, and something you can feel.

Then ask yourself:

What is here that I would be glad I paid attention to?

Stay with it for a little while.

Your mind will wander again. When you notice, gently come back. Each return is another chance to experience the life in front of you.

Let the water reach your ankles.

Listen until the wave has finished.

Be where your feet are. There is beauty here.

I am here. I am grateful. I am open to the goodness of this moment.

With gratitude,
Abundant Current