Staying Present

I live in the mountains, summer comes late and fall gets here early. It was 32 yesterday when I got up at 6:30 am to go for a run. I have a hard time staying in the present day/moment/time. I think about all the things we have going on the rest of August and it makes me feel like summer is already over--not good! Honestly, when I look at the calendar and look at the schedule I get tense and feel like I haven't gotten to do all things I wanted to do.


Soooo, I'm trying to work on staying present. Rather than getting ahead of myself and being sad that summer is coming to an end I'm trying to keep in mind that it's actually STILL SUMMER. Rather than being sad about the things I haven't done I think I'd like to make a short list of the things I want to do this month. Here's my list:

• Have a fire in our backyard firepit and roast marshmallows
• Have another backyard BBQ with friends
• Do a few more mountain bike rides in the high country
• Take my daughter hiking at the beaver ponds where she can throw rocks in the water to her heart's delight!
• Go camping one more time

So it's a short list, which I think is important--it seems more achievable this way.


When I get too far ahead of myself and obsess over the calendar, what we have to do and what we're missing because time is going so fast, well, then I really miss out. I miss out because I'm ignoring the present moment--the beautful evening outside, the great run that I had this morning (even if it was chilly), my daughter's hysterical laughter when I make funny faces at her.


How do stay present and enjoy the moment we're in, instead of worrying about the future?