Smelling the Roses by John Cali

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My little town in the USA’s northern Rocky Mountains used to be a pretty laid-back place. Not much traffic, not much noise, not much pollution, lots of peace and quiet, lots of friendly folks. It was, and still is, a great place to live. But lately I’ve noticed a trend more typical of big cities, not little western towns.

John Cali

As I drive or walk around town, more and more I see people talking on cell phones in their cars. I see people running red lights, cutting off other cars in traffic. People in stores and out on the trails are glued to their cell phones, often glancing at their watches to see what they’re late for now.

It seems nearly everybody wants everything right now. And you damned well better stay out of their way!

Are we losing our ability to enjoy life, even here in this beautiful little corner of God’s green earth?

“Yes,” would be my answer, “we are losing it.”

It’s taken me many years to learn how to live now. And I still have to occasionally remind myself to do it. I used to spend most of my waking moments thinking about what I should be doing the next moment, the next hour, the next day, the next year. It was ridiculous! I rarely got to enjoy the present moment.

We’re so fixated on what’s going to happen 10 minutes from now, 10 days from now, 10 years from now, we no longer live in the present moment. And yet that’s all we have.

Today news literally flies around the world in seconds. No one with a computer is shielded from the planet’s problems. We’re so focused on all our global and personal problems, all the distractions, rushing here and there. Few of us are doing anything else, certainly not being in the moment, “smelling the roses.”

Here’s Spirit.

Spirit

“Smelling the roses” — that’s a beautiful image because, for most of you, roses represent love, goodness, pleasure and passion. All the experiences you want to have in your lives — right?

Yet you allow yourselves to get so distracted, so drawn away from, what you really dearly want for yourselves.

Why do you do that?

Well, we have a few theories. But, basically, what it all comes down to is what John said — there are too many, far too many, distractions you allow to pollute your pleasure, the pleasure of being in a physical human body at this time in your human history.

Friends, this is such an exciting time to be physically alive on your planet. There has never been a time like this, a time when so many of you are waking up and wondering “What is it all about?”

There is so much happening, so much intensity, it often totally blindsides you. Two perfect examples of that are your so-called “global recession” and the swine flu scare. You have so many forces at play on your planet today. So many conflicting ideas, so much confusing information, so much “bad” news — all the stuff that can go “wrong.”

Yet nothing is going wrong. Yes, you’re undergoing huge, earthshaking changes. But change is always a good thing. Change means you’re growing, you’re evolving. Which is one reason you incarnated to begin with.

You’re obsessed with having everything right now. You know the attitude we speak of — “Okay, we’re changing. Let’s just get it done and over with.” (You’ll never get it done, by the way.)

You’ve lost, or are quickly losing, your ability to have fun.

Yet fun, in our perspective, is what it’s all about. Life is supposed to be fun!

Period!

If each one of you focused on fun — having more of it in your lives, helping others have more of it in theirs — you could transform your troubled planet into paradise on earth.

But you cannot have fun if you’re obsessed with all the distractions, disasters, and dramas in today’s world.

Those distractions, disasters, and dramas are the realities others are creating for themselves. There’s absolutely no reason you have to follow in their footsteps.

You can create lives of absolute bliss and abundance. But there’s a catch.

To create that life of your dreams, you must go within. And stop giving your attention to the “without” — everything “out there.”

We’re not saying to withdraw from your world, to “bury your heads in the sand.” We are saying you have the power to create a different world for yourselves. And to thereby help others create a different world for themselves.

But — a big “BUT” here — all your power is in this present moment. Absolutely all of it!

So be here now. BE in the present moment. BE you. Take time for smelling the roses.

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