Being Conscious Of Our Treasures

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. Thorton Wilder

This summer I’ve sometimes squandered my time by focusing on shortcomings.  In this “busy” life, it is so easy to concentrate on the threads that ultimately don’t mean much. We all are guility of focusing our attention on individual puzzle pieces blinding ourselves to the overall picture. Many times, I’ve stopped and asked, “Does this really matter? Is this thought or emotion justified?” I come back to these questions over and over again, revisiting the same thought process. This exercise usually exhausts me. As much as I’ve learned to stop and think about what matters, I’ve yet to really internalize the answer to this question.

The key to internalizing what really matters is to be conscious of our treasures. What does that mean? During this past week, I really memorialized and attempted to pay attention to what I treasure. My daughter usually asks several questions during the day, ranging from the serious to the mundane. These mini-interruptions can fizzle into irritation sometimes, but I realized her questions  are what I treasure. They reflect her need to learn and her yearning to have a conversation with me. Those exchanges are a continuous part of our days, a slow building of the relationship between mother and daughter. Another treasure in my life – the sound of my own mother’s voice. Everyday, every single day, I call and talk to my mother about nothing in particular. It is an automatic part of my day to hear her voice. There are other treasures, little unexpected surprises that give me pause. The other day as we were driving to dinner, we look out the window and see a double rainbow. It is the first time I’ve ever witnessed this mirror image of color in the sky. Inside, I heard a single word, treasure. And how conscious I was of its significance.