What does it mean to live in the moment?

I’ve struggled with this my whole life. I am almost never in this moment – I’m either rehashing yesterday or fretting about tomorrow. One of the reasons I love exercise so much is it forces me to be present. When I’m pushing my body to do something hard I am able to focus so intently that yesterday and tomorrow slip away and there is only now. It’s such a huge blessing.

But why can’t I achieve that the other 23 hours of my day?

Dogs are EXPERTS at living in the moment, which is one of the (many) reasons I love them so much. They exist in the now.

We found out a few months ago that our big guy, Samson, has lung cancer. He started wheezing on his walks, and his appetite was waning, so we took in for a check. He has a giant tumor in his right lung. Hearing that was like getting punched in the gut.

Early Sunday morning, our sweet girl, Lily, had a seizure. She woke us up with her legs thrashing against the closet door. Tuesday we found it’s a brain tumor.

My first thought was – really? Now? With Sam already sick? Why? Whywhywhywhywhywhywhy?

I’ve cried. I’ve ranted. And I’ve got myself spinning every possible scenario about what the future holds.

And then I noticed what our dogs were doing. Sleeping. Yup. Just curled up right comfortable in their favorite spots sound asleep. Like they don’t have a care in the world.

You know why? Because they don’t. They are alive, they are at home, and therefore all is okay.

They’re not worried about tomorrow. They’re not fretting about the pillow they chewed up yesterday. They’re just enjoying the day they’ve been given.

Jesus tells us, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34).

That sounds easy enough. But how do I do it? How do I let go of worry and anxiety – because all of it comes down to either agonizing over yesterday’s mistakes or worrying about what troubles may come tomorrow?

I’m not sure I know the answer yet. But I’m going to watch my sweet dogs and be reminded each time I find myself fretting what they already know: All we have is today. And today is gift. So I’m going to find a comfortable spot with these dogs I love and enjoy this day I’ve been given with them.