A reminder to be present

roses under window 2These roses under my window make no reference
to former roses or to better ones; they are
for what they are; they exist with God
today. There is no time to them. There is
simply the rose; it is perfect in every
moment of its existence. Before a leaf-bud
has burst, its whole life acts; in the
full-blown flower there is no more; in
the leafless root there is no less.

Its nature is satisfied, and it satisfies
nature, in all moments alike. There is
no time to it. But man postpones or
remembers; he does not live in the present,
but with reverted eye laments the past,
or, heedless of the riches that surround
him, stands tiptoe to foresee the future.
He cannot be happy and strong until he
too lives with nature in the
present, above time.

– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Self-Reliance

 

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Published by life with more cowbell

Multidisciplinary storyteller. Out & proud. Torontonian. Likes playing with words. A lot.

3 thoughts on “A reminder to be present

  1. I like that quote. It has been too long since I have read any Emerson. I should wander to my bookshelf and read a bit since I have the day off.

  2. Reblogged this on and commented:
    I love this quote! Thank you Cate McKim of Life With More Cowbell for posting it. We need to be reminded that life is too short. We need to stop being afraid of taking chances, learn to say I love you and laugh at life’s follies. We need to forgive ourselves for making mistakes, stop living in the past and seizing the moment. ❤

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