Downsizing

Hey, here are some recent Journey magazine articles I wrote. More to come....

Downsizing
Making room for the moment….
By Janee Kuta-Iliano


Being in the moment is where life is most illuminated All anxieties, thoughts and judgment cease. Ordinary sights, sounds and smells come to the senses. Negative emotions disappear and a feeling of awe and wonder appear. Peace and appreciation pervade.

Being in the moment is such a beautiful experience, so why can’t it happen all the time? How can we go from complete awareness to utter chaos in an instant? Calm, cool and collected one moment and freaking out the next. Becoming more present to my life has made me realize how much I have been missing out on.

These past few years have been one of true transformation and healing. We all have our baggage and this just happens to be my time to unpack. Deciding to no longer carry around burdens and making a commitment to actively participate in my life has become my focus. I am devoted to purposefully creating the life of my dreams and being in the moment has become a vital part to my success.

There are reasons why I have not been able to be in the moment that I’d like to share. One major obstacle was my schedule!!! I have spent many years living on a very tight string. My life has been very scheduled with work, activities, commitments, etc. Who doesn’t have a busy schedule these days? Even our children’s days have become overscheduled leaving little room for any of us to get sidetracked.

My unrealistic schedule not only made me late to events, but continually created a sense of panic and had me rushing around all the time. I hated it because I felt like something was wrong with me. My family would tease me about how I was always late to functions. There were times when I wanted to talk to the salad bar guy at Heinens but couldn’t because I had to get somewhere. It almost felt like I was running around with my head down, going over what was next and missing out on all the beauty, wonder and lessons that surrounded me.

After having Jude, my schedule had to change. My daughter has become one of my best teachers because she is always, just always in the moment. I remember early on when she would peacefully sit and grab for bits of dust that floated by her face. I was in awe as she looked at the dust with pure wonder, laughing as she tried to reach for it. Being with Jude has been so refreshing because she truly is going with the flow of life.

Creating a realistic schedule, saying no to events and spending more time doing nothing versus scheduling all these activities has been a saving grace. It is now okay if Jude wants to take a minute to sit on those big red balls at Target whereas before, there would have been no time for it. Downsize, do less instead of more has been my goal and a nice way to help me stay present and in the moment.

Another issue that has personally kept me from being in the moment is holding on to grudges. I would like to consider myself a forgiving person, but when I took a good look in the mirror, was I really? Forgiving others for past issues and most importantly, forgiving myself for things have taken the weight of the world off my shoulders. Talk about lightening up! It has been like freeing up space on a computer. Forgiving has given me room to breathe. Forgiving has allowed me to start really liking myself as a person, which is a very positive thing. When we are peaceful, we are in the moment. This is how we are supposed to be: happy, humble, giving, loving. Not tortured, harassed, dejected and helpless. “The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few.” (Matt 9:37)

Living a life of gratitude bears a lot of fruit as well. Our gimmie, gimmie society appears be driven by the idea that the world owes us something. This collective thought pattern keeps us focused on what’s next and how much more. Society expects us to be at a certain place in life at a certain age, so we keep striving and reaching for the next level instead of appreciating what we have now. I realize I am here impress one person in my life, God. Focusing less on myself and living in gratitude for all my blessings has taken the edge off and has begun to reveal powerful insights to life as I go along.

Being in the moment allows us to look at everything with a fresh mind since the mind is like new with each second instead of replaying the same old thought patterns, judgments and assumptions over and over again. Our habits are well-paved paths and cease to exist when we focus on the here and now. So take a peak, explore what is keeping you from being in the moment. Are you overscheduled and running on empty? Do you feel forced to do everything for everyone else but not for yourself? Do you hold on to bitterness that is taking up space in your mind and body? There is an answer to our why. Start letting go of baggage and ask for help. As they say, Let go and Let God. I am overwhelmed at how much it can help.