Sunday, July 10, 2011

Fully present

Recently I was able to spend time with one of my dearest friends from college.  Since moving to Seattle, I haven't had a lot of time with her and when we do see each other, I treasure the moments of catching up and seeing her face to face.

She has a 13 month old daughter named Berkeley. This visit was the third time I've seen her since she was born.  Each time I'm amazed at how much she's grown and how much she reminds me of her mother.  I loved playing with her and seeing her many smiles and hearing her little giggles.  As I was getting ready to leave, her mom said to her, "Give Christy a kiss."  Without an ounce of hesitation, she leaned forward and gave me a huge kiss.  

This moment was such a visual of how I hope to approach my time in Africa.  I tend to want to plan things out and make sure I know what I'm getting myself into.  There are so many unknowns as I prepare for Africa and this stretches me out of my comfort zone.  However, I know I must be fully present and take it on the same way Berkeley did with that kiss.  I want to enjoy every day and every new experience that comes my way.  I don't want to over analyze it.  I was thinking about how wonderful it was to be on the receiving end of Berkeley's kiss.  If she had been hesitant, I would've backed away in order to make her more comfortable.  Instead, she showered me with so much love and it became such a wonderful moment for me.  I want to approach my time with people this same way (ok, not kissing them) but with the same joy and the same reckless abandon of a child.

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