When I think of what it is to be intentionally present, I think it is the awareness of oneself in your environment. Who are you in relation to your home, your school, your work, and your relationships. When you know who you are in all the roles you represent (mother, daughter, wife, sibling, employee, student, etc), you can make individual intentional decisions to benefit you and everyone around you. When you don't know who you are or what your role is in your environment, you can become paralyzed and immobile while you wait for others to define you. When this happens, the definitions are usually not to your benefit but benefits the one's labeling you:
A parent can call you, "a burden,"
A sibling can call you, "looser,"
A teacher can call you, "lazy,"
An employer can call you, "unmotivated,"
A society can call you, "a hindrance."
So many people in society have become unable to live independently. They were never taught to think for themselves and so need others to think for them. They don't know how to work, because the work was always done for them. They don't know how to change, because they were never challenged to change. They don't know how to solve problems, because they were never taught to think in terms of critical thinking when applied to their own lives. Yet, those same people who have no idea how to live their own lives are the same people who are telling others how they should live.
People used to couch-surf in their parent's living rooms,
but now the couches have moved out of the home
and into the field, onto the beach,
and created a landfill.
I have always loved how music can speak of our circumstances. I told a course in school that compared the music of each 10 year era to the challenges that were going on at the time of the song. If we were at war, it spoke to the atrocities of war. If we were at peace, it was love songs. Today, the world is frustrated, and Francesca Battistelli sings, "This Is The Stuff" and shares her own frustrations and solutions to the things that drive her crazy. We can all get crazy with the many challenges of today. Take it a day at a time, and plan your steps to get you where you want to go. If you need help, call us and we can help.