Be Here Now

Three simple words – BE HERE NOW.  So simple, yet so powerful. 

With the deluge of information coming at us every minute of every day, it’s no wonder these three simple words get lost or forgotten.  I diligently attempt to manage my time with categorized, color-coded email, smartphone alerts to remind me where I need to be and when, and an ongoing search to find more time in a 24 hour day.  In spite of all my efforts, it’s not uncommon for family and friends to ask me, “Where are you?” while I’m sitting right there with them. 
  
For years I’ve heard phrases like, “be present”, “enjoy the moment”, and “there’s no time like the present”.  Intellectually I understood the concept; however, I totally missed the experience.  My perpetual short-term lists and long-term goals clouded by ability to connect in the moment.  It’s as if I was short changing events yet to come by taking my eye off the future – I would miss a detail, it wouldn’t come out just right, someone would be left out, and on and on.  I even piled on ‘expectations’ of those events by conjuring up the anticipated experience well in advance of those moments.  

During a recent seminar I was introduced to idea of ‘being here now’.  As we explored the benefits of staying in the moment, this simple yet power notion began to take hold.  I was missing a conscience effort to FOCUS on the NOW - to clear my mind of the lists and temporarily relieve myself of the future.  As I became more mindful, my experiences are richer; I feel more engaged and fulfilled. 

To me, being present is like breath is to a yoga practitioner.  It is essential to my life experiences and connection to loved ones.  It keeps me grounded in what’s important.  I find that my contributions to future are more enriched by my awareness of where I’ve been.  What a gift to build meaningful memories because I can ‘be here now’!
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Lori Myers
January 2016

This event at The Double Door is dedicated to the loving memory of our friend Missi Ivie who came to our very first retreat in 2007.  

​If you cannot make the event and wish to make a donation in Loving Memory of Missi Ivie, and / or in honor of another loved love please click here.  

​DONATE NOW

If I had the room, I would create a photo montage of the many amazing sides of Sue DeSesso Falco. A photographer by trade, Sue was a healer of people by birth-right. Not sure how to express that, but she had an incredible gift to support all who came into her life. She was the driving force behind the building out and fundraising and support efforts for the Charlotte "Get your Rear In Gear Run" and colon cancer community. And since Sue came here, GYRIR and the Colon Cancer Coalition  have loving helped fund other colon survivors attend Wind River retreats!!
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But more importantly for me, Sue was a dear friend, a woman to admire and a person I am so thankful to have known. I first met her at 24 Hours of Booty, wearing a Superman t-shirt and red cape, and that is exactly how she lived her life ... being a champion of others. During her first visit to Wind River I remember her taking a posse of fellow participants on a photo safari. They climbed rocks, took funny photo's and even submerged themselves in the cold water! All came back grinning from ear to ear and hailing their fearless leader. ... this approach to life is how Sue was in most endeavors.

But I know her most important role was as mom and wife to Mia, Ava and John. To all of you, I say thank you for sharing Sue with the rest of the world.
With humbleness, Shannon Carney