Be Present

Today we’re talking about being present. How do we get to the space of making our moments matter? Or more specifically how do we honor ourselves in the moments we’re given? How often during the day you find yourself immersed in the moment and allowing yourself to fully enjoy what you are doing, whether its a task, converstaion or being in a space?  Live in the moment…what does that mean or look like?

If you were blessed by what you heard, share the goodness. Let's connect at https://www.loveworthwork.com

Transcript

0:00:24 - (Renada): Hey, day. Good day. Good day. Hello and welcome. I am so glad you are here. Today is a day that was made just for you. And I pray that that is not only your blessing, but your mindset that you take the time to know that heaven designed this day with you in mind. And all of the goodness that you were supposed to receive, all of the grace and the wonderful things that you were supposed to encounter were made just for you.

0:01:03 - (Renada): Today holds everything that you need to be the best version of yourself for yourself, so that you succeed. And so we together, you and I, will start this day with some self love, with some self worth, and a little bit of self work, so that we see ourselves new and that we understand ourselves better, and so that we begin and end the day with the goodness that you deserve. I'm Renata. Welcome again. I'm glad that you are here and joining into the conversation today, because today we are talking about being present.

0:01:45 - (Renada): More specifically, how do we get to the space of really making our moments matter and honoring ourselves in the moments that we are given? That is not easy to do. It is real work. It takes real intention to be in the moment and just be in the moment. There are so many things that vy for our attention. There are so many things that compete for our energy. There are so many things that we have to give focus and time to that sometimes it can become really hard to just be present, be in the moments that you are given so that they bless you, so that you get to take something away that you can hold and value, and something that really changes how you see the world, how you see yourself, how you see other people for the better.

0:02:49 - (Renada): It can be hard to do that, especially when you have all of these things that you have to get accomplished, all of these tasks, all of these requirements. Even when we allow expectation and obligation to become a part of our day, it can still our ability, chip away little by little at our ability to just be in the moment, be present. So I have some questions, really just questions to help you reflect.

0:03:24 - (Renada): How often during the day do you find yourself fully immersed in a moment? And I'm talking about the kind of immersion that allows you to really enjoy what it is that you're doing to really be there, whether it's a task that you're doing, like you're fully engaged in it and you're getting everything out of it, or a conversation that is really making your wheels turn and really helping you to consider points of view or perspectives that maybe you had never done before. You feel like you're being really built and blessed by that conversation.

0:04:05 - (Renada): Or even being in a space, whether it's somewhere new that you've never been, or noticing something new at work, or discovering a new place that is in your neighborhood that maybe you haven't been to before, think about it. How often does that happen to you throughout your day? Or even another question. Do you find that what you are encountering and experiencing throughout the day is leaving impressions on you?

0:04:45 - (Renada): Is leaving you with a little bit of goodness, a little bit of light, a little bit of hope, a little bit of joy, a little bit of understanding that forever changes or influences how you see, how you engage, how you approach your moments, your life, day to day. That's the beauty and the power of being present. Sometimes we hear people say that it's similar to living in the moment, right? Live in the moment, seize the day.

0:05:28 - (Renada): Really, it just means that you're giving yourself an opportunity to be present for yourself. And it is really important to be present for yourself. Because when you're present for yourself, that's when you're just owning you. That's when you're seeing the open doors, that's when you're taking the opportunities that come and recognizing all of the goodness of who you are showing up for yourself. That's a part of being present.

0:06:04 - (Renada): And in order to do that, you have to know that every moment matters. There is something about each moment that you experience during the day that was intended, that was perfectly curated and designed for you to be built and blessed by it, for there to be something good that you take out of the moment. I know that for some of us that can be hard to believe because there's so much routine in the day.

0:06:38 - (Renada): So the days start to blur into each other, or there's so much that you're required to do, or you're juggling all of these things and trying to manage all of these tasks that you don't even have time to just be in the moment. If you're running on autopilot, how do you get to just be in the moment? That is not an easy thing to do. So yesterday I was playing chess with my daughter. She's twelve, and it's been a while since we played chess.

0:07:22 - (Renada): And there was just something that really blessed my heart about being in that moment with her. Just being there out of everything that had to happen yesterday. Errands to run, pickups to make dinner to do, conversations. We try to sit at the table and have conversations for dinner and really share, make dinner time a space for fellowship and gauging the day and making sure that we are aware of what they're going through and being responsive to their needs.

0:08:07 - (Renada): But after dinner, she said, hey, mom, can we do something together? Do you want to do something with me? Yeah, sure. What do you have in mind? So she knows my favorite game is Scrabble. And so she asked about Scrabble, and I said, no, we can do something else if that's what you want to do. So she pulled out the chessboard, we did the pieces, and so we start playing. And there was something so neat about seeing how her mind was working.

0:08:38 - (Renada): I think it has probably been almost a year since the last time we played chess. And there were a couple of times during the game where she would make a move and she'd say, oh, my gosh, I can't believe I just did that. And then she would talk out what her actual strategy would have been had she not made that move or she was trying to talk out. She said that she felt stuck at one point because she didn't want to lose any of her more powerful pieces. She was willing to lose the pawns, but she didn't want to lose the more powerful pieces.

0:09:20 - (Renada): And she said, I have to cost benefit this in my mind. I'm not just going to give up my power. And there were moments in times when she sounded like me, and it made me smile. And then there were moments when just watching her, just watching her analyze the board, watching her consider her moves, and it just made me happy, because that was not only a moment that we got to share, but that was a glimpse into the goodness of her that I got to have.

0:09:53 - (Renada): And in those mom moments, where I'm getting to see who they are becoming, and it's just that reminder that they're getting it. They've got it. They're getting it. Keep going. Keep going. Don't lose hope. Don't lose courage. Don't lose sight. They're getting it. They're getting it. Those are the moments where I know that in being present, we're both getting something from that we're both able to take away something about each other that builds us and blesses us.

0:10:30 - (Renada): And whether it's happening in the morning or in the afternoon or at night, when you give yourself the opportunity to be present, you are giving yourself a chance to treasure and honor the time that you've been given. One of my favorite stories is the story of Mary and Elizabeth, when Mary goes to see Elizabeth, and then just the evolution of Mary as a mother, as a woman brings a sense of understanding.

0:11:15 - (Renada): But there's one scripture in Luke 219 where it talks about Mary treasuring the things that she was experiencing and pondering those moments in her heart that always has stood out to me, because I think that in life, we can get so caught up that we don't take the time to treasure the things that we are experiencing. We don't do that for ourselves. And so when you're not treasuring your moments, it's really easy to lose sight of your why?

0:11:52 - (Renada): Why am I getting up and going to this place every day? Why am I sharing time and energy and resources with these people? Why am I still in this career field? Why am I still hanging on to the idea of being a spouse or being a sister or a sibling or a friend, or whatever it is that you may struggle with in the monotony of your day? If you take the time to be present, you get to start to treasure the things that you're experiencing, regardless of how big or how small they are.

0:12:35 - (Renada): It's a gift. Because if you're just going through the day checking boxes, then when are you choosing to be aware and live in your moment? When are you being present for yourself? When are you honoring your time, honoring yourself by being present? I had the opportunity to volunteer some of my time today at my daughter's school, and it was for an extracurricular, so it was for a choir preparation. Girls had to be fitted for choir dresses, and there were only three of us there volunteering for the entire varsity choir.

0:13:41 - (Renada): And I wanted to be present. I wanted to be in the moment, because I understand the beauty and the power and the blessing of being in the moment. Being present means there is something that I am going to have the opportunity to experience and encounter that leaves me better and is supposed to leave whoever I am coming into contact with or wherever I am better than how I found it. And it was so nice to be able to not only help these girls be fitted for these dresses, but to have an opportunity to edify.

0:14:27 - (Renada): There were so many girls who, oh, what's wrong with my body? Or I can't believe I'm so tall, I'm apologizing for their height, or not seeing the wonder of who they are or how they were built, and to be able to stand in that space and say, there's nothing wrong with your body, you look great in that dress, or that looks beautiful on you. There's no need to apologize for your height. There's nothing wrong with being short. There's nothing wrong with being you, right? If I had chosen to not be present, if I had just said, okay, I'm going to check this box, volunteer, be a good mom, put myself in this space, because this is what good moms do. Good moms volunteer.

0:15:18 - (Renada): I don't really have to or want to be here. I'm just going to do this so that I can check a box. If instead of looking at it as an opportunity, I looked at it as an obligation, I would not have seen the open door to say to those girls, these are the words that you should be telling yourself. These are the things that you should hear that you should have for your own understanding, especially because middle school is hard, high school is hard too. But that little gray area of middle school, that's a challenge.

0:16:06 - (Renada): So if you have the opportunity to leave somebody better than how they were when they came into your presence, what a blessing. What an opportunity to treasure that time and build and bless in it. So the thing that always sticks out to me is honoring. Honor the moment, honor your time, honor yourself by being present. And a lot of times we hear honor as like, this is something that you do to the Lord, or you honor people, or you honor positions and titles. But honor belongs to you too.

0:16:52 - (Renada): You are supposed to honor yourself. We are also told to be honorable. In scripture, we are given that charge to be honorable, to honor others, honor ourself, and to be honorable. Okay, so great. What does that have to do with being present? Well, being present means that you're honoring your time by taking the opportunity to see the value in it. Honoring literally means to just recognize the worth and the merit of this person, this thing, this place, publicly, to show respect, to show appreciation, to show gratitude, because it is distinct.

0:17:52 - (Renada): These moments that you are given every day are distinct. They are supposed to be valuable to you because time is precious. They are supposed to be worthy of your attention and your awareness, because they were designed for you to do good works in them. Hebrews 1318 talks about having a clear conscience, having a clear mind, having an awareness so that you can act honorably in all things. In all things, not just some of the things that you're tasked with doing, not just the things that you really like.

0:18:44 - (Renada): Not just when it's a Wednesday and it's hump day, not just a TGIF, because it's the weekend. In all things. That means your everyday, your every moment, is masterfully designed to be good to you, to be a blessing to you, so that you give yourself the opportunity to be present in it, and to take away those things that you have the chance to treasure and to value. So how do we choose to be present? Well, first, it starts with honoring the moment.

0:19:24 - (Renada): Seeing the good of your time, and understanding that your efforts and your energy used in that time is a way for you to sow into the goodness of tomorrow, sow into the goodness of the future, sow into the goodness of another person, or sow into the goodness of yourself. Honor the moment. That means, okay, I'm here, I'm just grocery shopping. How do I honor the moment? You honor the moment by understanding that you're given the chance to do this task, that you get to do it with a sense of peace. That you get to do it with a sense of gratitude.

0:20:17 - (Renada): Because there are people who would love to be able to go grocery shopping, but they don't even know where their next meal is coming from. So let me approach this situation with a sense of gratitude. Let me honor the moment because I understand that this may not be an opportunity that everyone has, and I want to bring gratitude to this task. So I'm not going to complain about it. I'm not going to be irritated with people in the store who literally are just living their life.

0:20:52 - (Renada): I'm not going to be frustrated that this line is long. I'm just going to remind myself that I have peace, and my peace is my power. I don't have to be frustrated with people's screaming children because I realize and recognize that other people's energy is not my reality. But I get to bring gratitude to this space. I get to do something that shows that I care for myself by giving myself the foods that I need.

0:21:26 - (Renada): I care for other people by ensuring that my home is filled with the stuff that brings goodness. So I'm going to approach it from a place of gratitude. I'm going to make sure that I see the good of my time and that I honor this moment. I'm not going to worry about what's to come later. I'm not going to worry about the other ten things that I have on a list to do today. I'm going to be in this moment, use my time wisely, recognize that I have the opportunity to protect my peace in this, and I'm going to be present so that I don't get distracted, so that I'm not trying to multitask and do 11 million things while I'm in the store.

0:22:17 - (Renada): I'm just going to be here. That's where we learn from. Matthew 634 not to be anxious. Not to worry about what is to come, but to honor this moment by being in this moment, bringing the right kind of intention to this space. If it's gratitude, then I'm bringing gratitude. If it's focus, then I'm bringing focus. If it's concentration, then I'm bringing concentration. If it's attention to detail, then I'm going to be attentive to the details.

0:22:56 - (Renada): If it's recognizing where something needs to be adjusted or where there's a gap in a process that I'm really honing in and saying, okay, let me give this moment my fullest sense of being so that I'm not anxious, I'm not worried about what's to come. I am here right now. You also choose to be present by honoring yourself and honoring others. This is how you bring your values into a space or into an exchange, an encounter with another person, your values.

0:23:51 - (Renada): Or this is how you set those positive boundaries that help to keep peace within your borders. Those things matter. So if I'm having an encounter with someone and they seem a little bit frazzled, maybe just saying, hey, it's okay, everything's going to be fine. Or asking a question, how's your day going? Or giving somebody a smile, or by saying, oh, I'm sorry, no, I don't participate in those kinds of conversations.

0:24:20 - (Renada): Or if you need to set a boundary that says, oh, no, I can't use my time in that way because I have other things to do. And you know that you need to use your time wisely. Or if it's choosing not to participate in a conversation that is degrading to someone else, or if you're choosing to say, these are the things that I value. I value integrity. I value honesty. I value sincerity. I value compassion.

0:24:49 - (Renada): And so you're taking the moments that you're given to recognize where you can apply those values in the context of a conversation with someone, being empathetic to somebody who's struggling with the situation, being present enough to say, I understand what you're going through, being present enough to say, you're doing a great job and giving somebody a compliment where you know that it would matter, honoring yourself by reflecting the values that you bring, the truths that you hold, and setting positive boundaries that keep peace in your borders.

0:25:29 - (Renada): That matters. That absolutely matters. And we see this in one corinthians 1613 and 14. We are told to be watchful, to stand firm, and to be strong. Honoring yourself means that you're not allowing people to decide your boundaries for you, that you're not allowing people to dictate what your values get to be in a space. But you're giving yourself your fullest sense of being, to show up and say, this is me, this is where I stand.

0:26:21 - (Renada): I won't be moved by other people's expectations. I won't be held to other people's obligations. I am going to honor the moment by honoring myself. That's how I choose to be present. You deserve that. And by honoring the space. So you can honor the moment, you can honor yourself, you can honor others, or you can honor the space that you're in, whether it's a season, whether it's a mental space, whether it's a physical space.

0:27:06 - (Renada): You have the ability to honor the space that you're in, and that's the opportunity that you're standing in, or that's the vision that you have of yourself, or it's even the time and intention that you are using to recognize that where you are is not happenstance. It didn't just happen by coincidence for you to be in this new position. It didn't just happen by coincidence. For you to be asked to lead this thing or be in this space as a speaker or do these things as a host or a co host or inviting people in, that was not by accident.

0:27:45 - (Renada): It was by design. It was on purpose. For you to be asked to participate was on purpose. So you get to honor the space by recognizing the intention and the energy that it took for you to be there and saying, yes, I deserve to be here. Yes, I'm going to give this my best. Yes, I'm going to give this my fullest sense of self. No, I'm not going to be held by other people's expectations. No, I'm not going to perform according to obligations.

0:28:19 - (Renada): But I'm going to take the very best of who I am for myself and give myself a chance to be present and to be here so that what I give is the best reflection of who I am. That's colossians four five. And making the most of every opportunity. Being wise in the way that you act. Making sure that you're not depleting yourself by voiding what you need by voiding the best that you have to give to make other people comfortable or to pacify somebody else's needs above your own.

0:29:10 - (Renada): Recognizing that you matter, that you deserve to be in the spaces where you are. That it's not by accident, but the fact that you get to be present for yourself, that you get to honor the moment, that you get to honor yourself, that you get to honor the space is intended. It is designed so that you have the opportunity not only to see yourself, but to live in the moment, so that you get to treasure those things and sow into the goodness of tomorrow.

0:29:52 - (Renada): So if it means that you have to put on a different perspective to honor the moment, then put on a different perspective. Yes, you go to that same place every day to do the same job, but make the moments matter today by saying, I get to bring the best of myself to this place. And because I'm here, because I choose to be my fullest sense of self. And I recognize that other people's energy doesn't have to be my reality.

0:30:20 - (Renada): And I recognize that my peace is my power. My voice is going to be valuable today. And I know that my presence is going to be powerful. Because when I honor the moment, when I honor the space, when I honor myself, it changes where I am, it changes the energy around me, it changes the atmosphere around me, and it leaves people with an understanding of who I am. So I will be present not only for myself, but I will be present so that I get to sow into my future by who I am choosing to be today's.

0:31:03 - (Renada): So let's self check. Let's take all of that in. Let it resonate, let it fill your mind. Cross reference with what you know, with what you've experienced, with where you're being challenged, with where you know you still need to grow, where you've got it and you're good. And let's see, are there places and reasons that you are still struggling to be present? What is hindering you from being present for yourself?

0:31:52 - (Renada): Is it because there's a sense of dissatisfaction? Is it because there is a sense of inadequacy? Is there a place where you could be more grateful? Is there a way in which you could be more aware? Are you struggling to honor and live in the moments that you've been given? In the spaces that you've been given? Are there places where you are taking your moments for granted? Because remember that tomorrow is not promised.

0:32:44 - (Renada): Not for you, not for me, not for anyone that you know. And because we know that tomorrow is not promised, that even the next moment is not promised. You owe it to yourself to be present for yourself so that you have every opportunity to honor the moments that you have been given. Honor yourself. Honor the spaces that you have been made to stand in the opportunities that have been set and created just for you, you deserve that.

0:33:36 - (Renada): You absolutely deserve that. And if there are places where you are struggling because you are so tired, because you're worn out. The stresses, the obligations, the expectations. You don't have to be. You can take those things and lay them down. There is a God who created your life to be a reflection of light and love, of truth and peace and wholeness. And he says, give me those things. I care for you. I love you. Not only do I love you, but I gave the very best that I had to give.

0:34:24 - (Renada): I sacrificed my one and only son so that you could experience the freedom of living life in truth and in peace. When you cast your cares on me, when you lay down those anxieties, when you decide that your life is not defined by other people's expectations or obligations of who you are, but your life is then defined by who you choose to be. The values that you hold, the boundaries that you set, the moments that you live in.

0:35:02 - (Renada): There's a savior who loves you enough to say, I want you to have the best of all of that. I came so that you might have life and have it to the fullest, to live in those moments and say, this is how I choose to be present. I choose to honor these moments. I won't take my time for granted. I won't take this job for granted. I won't make my tasks meaningless or insignificant, because I know that there's nothing insignificant about who I am.

0:35:33 - (Renada): I know that there's nothing meaningless about how I've been designed. My voice is valuable. My presence is powerful. And I know that when I choose to live in the moment, when I choose to be present for myself, I am sowing into my future. I am sowing into my good. I am sowing into what I see for me and the person that I am intent on becoming, because I deserve that. And you do. You absolutely deserve that.

0:36:14 - (Renada): Don't let what has been before continue to be. You can change it. You can be present. You can be aware. You can be good to yourself. Starting today. Make your moments matter today. Give yourself the goodness that you deserve to live in the light of truth. And don't forget to take into tomorrow the lessons of today. Be present for yourself. Honor your moments. Honor yourself. Honor the spaces that you're in.

0:36:51 - (Renada): Be gracious to yourself. Be patient and loving to yourself. You got this. You are doing the work. And you should be proud of that because it is not easy, but it is well worth it. I am so proud of you. Don't lose sight. Don't lose hope. Be present in your moments today. Reclaim your time and live in the power of your presence and the value of your voice so that you are present in the moments to give yourself the good that you need.

0:37:43 - (Renada): May the peace of y'all be yours today. I hope that you have a wonderful rest of your day and thank you so much for sharing this time. If you want to connect with me further, you can chat with me. Send me a message@loveworthwork.com. Don't forget that you are deserving of that self work. We'll talk soon. Have a great day. Bye, y'all.