Literally Smelling the Roses...

I recently began the habit of smelling the wonderful roses blooming next to our front door each time I leave or walk into the house.  While such a simple act, the meaning is transcendent for me and I would recommend everyone have such a trigger:

(1)  Our life is about experience and I have found these experiences are all about our senses.  How often do you look at all the colors around you?  How often do you concentrate on the smells that make up our days?  This quick sniff of these beautiful roses awakens me to being alive and reminds me of the incredible beauty around us at every moment...and we often miss all of it!

(2)  As I have discovered through the reading of Thich Nhat Hanh's, The Art of Living, we need to focus on the present moment...forget the past and the future, but focus on each and every present moment...slow it down!  This small act every time I leave/arrive at the house reminds me to stay in the moment.  Forget all the stuff in the past.  Forget the problems.  Appreciate the beauty of right now.  It has become my trigger.  Do you have one to center you?

(3)  Also from Hahn, looking into this rose reminds me that it is made up of everything in this universe...and I am too.  The earth, sun, water, wind, soil...and God can all be seen at the center of this rose.  A fantastic reminder of everything that goes into this beautiful rose and those fantastic people/life around me.  Try it...it is an awesome experience I would not have understood a few years ago.

Enjoy the day!  Peace.