This moment is the only moment we ever really have. It asks us to choose the view we have of the world, to see the beauty that is all around us that we so often overlook. It invites us to live from the heart a life that we love with all our soul.
Life is now. When you are present in the moment you are aware that neither the past nor the future exist except as constructs of the mind. All that truly exists is exactly what is right now. When you are present you can look past the voice in your head of ego and fear and be aware of the truth of your heart, the truth of your soul, the truth of your self.
Some people spend most of their lives ignoring their truth then wonder why they are not happy, fulfilled, at peace. For others something happens that awakens them to the fact that the secret to life is simply being present in the moment, being true to who they really are.
For me this awakening was caused by an event that was one of the most painful of my life. It was early March 2006 when Greg, one of my closest friends, died. There was no warning, he was simply gone.
I last saw Greg more than four months before he died. Not because I didn't want to, but because we both listened to the voice of ego and fear and kept faith in there being a tomorrow that never came. You see something happened and Greg stopped talking to me. I took Greg's silence to mean he didn't really care about our friendship, didn't really care about me. I wondered if we'd ever be friends again.
As time passed my hurt grew and with it so did my anger. I was angry at how he was treating me, angry at the pain I allowed it to cause me and angry at the power his silence held over me, as it seemed there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. In truth that last was what I was truly angry about - I was angry that I was powerless. So I gave up.
Just before Christmas Greg wrote to me saying he'd come to realise two things: "Life is too short to wallow in self pity... and good friends are too hard to come by to throw away at the first sign of trouble." He asked me to forgive him.
When I received that email I was over-joyed. I cried. I was happy. My heart said to write back and say, "Of course I forgive you!" My heart just wanted to see him again and have fun. My heart had already forgotten the last two months ever happened.
But I didn't listen to my heart. I listened instead to my self-righteous head that said he'd hurt me so he couldn't be let off lightly. I listened to my ego that said he needed to understand exactly how much pain he'd caused me. It was over 2 weeks before I replied and forgave him with a lecture.
To my pompous reply he generously wrote, "A second chance is probably more than I deserve but I am going to take it anyway. I have missed you." To which my heart shouted out, "I've missed you too!"
But I didn't listen.
A week later it was my Birthday, and when I thought to invite him my heart cried, "Yes!"
But I didn't listen.
Soon it was Australia Day and my heart suggested, "Meet up for a drink."
But I didn't listen.
Instead I listened to my head that said he should be the one to initiate our first meeting since he was the one to make the break. Instead I listened to my fear that said it would be difficult so I'd better wait until I'm ready.
As the weeks went by I gradually began to hear the words of my heart, and so realised how utterly stupid I was being. Finally I decided to organise to see him.
My self-righteousness was conquered but not my fear, so instead of picking up the phone I sent him an email. It was too little, too late, and two days later I found out Greg died before he ever read that email. My regrets almost killed me too.
"We do not regret the things we do; we regret the things we do not do." Like the saying, it was all the things I hadn't done that I regretted. All the little things that so often get over-looked and go unappreciated, yet in reality are the things bringing colour to life, making it so beautiful.
I regretted all the things I'd gathered to tell him, that now I never would. They weren't important in the larger sense, but they were the things friendships are built on. I regretted I hadn't heard him laugh one last time. And of course I regretted I'd never told him just how much I cared.
I realise now what I truly regret is not each specific action or inaction. What I truly regret is every time I shut out my heart's desire, listening instead to the voice in my head that kept on telling me what I should do, what was "right", not what I truly wanted. What I truly regret is letting fear, not my heart, control my life.
Shakespeare wrote, "To thine own self be true", and this simple phrase is the key to life's ultimate joy. It is by not being true to my self that suffering has come into my life, not all the outside circumstances and people I have so often blamed.
I now know that the only real power we have is in honouring our own true self right now. Everything else is an illusion, as this moment is all we ever have, the only time we actually can live.
My wish is to simply share this experience in the hope that it makes a difference.
I know I have a lot more to learn in this life, though some of the things I've already worked out have made a huge difference to me – the top three being...

1. The time to be happy is now.
2. The key to happiness is being true to yourself – following your heart and doing what you love.
3. Trust that somehow everything is perfect. It may look like a complete mess now, but one day it will all make perfect sense. Have the faith to surrender to the perfection of what is.

Lisa Frost