The speaker at the ceremony was first lady Michelle Obama. Now, politics are far from my forte and generally speaking I could really care less about the subject overall. That being said, I like Michelle; she is poised, well spoken, and delivered her speech with charm and a self-deprecation that made her more relatable than I would have thought. Her speech was fairly run of the mill and nothing to call home about but there was something that she said that stuck out to me. She said to be present in the lives of those whom you love.
What does it mean to be present? To be present in someone's life there needs to be legitimate effort and intention about spending quality time. It means that you are an active and essential role in those people's lives. It means that you show genuine interest and care about what is going on in their lives.
Reading what it means to be present is difficult for two reasons: 1) I see where I am notably dropping the ball in areas with some of my loved ones, and 2) it becomes glaringly obvious as to how present some people want to be in mine, which therein causes me to question, do they really care about me?
Let's face it people, communication is not what it used to be... "liking" my facebook status isn't being present but sadly that is what has become the norm.
The Beatles sang that "all you need is love," and while I disagree with that statement intrinsically, I do think that love is a powerful gift that is vastly underused or expressed. We like to say, "I love you" and feel that should be enough, but the Bible states that faith without deeds(actions) is dead...couldn't the same be said about love? I would argue that if your actions do not show love for someone, then you don't love them because if you did then it would be worth the time and the effort to show them.
Being present takes effort, yeah I know we're busy...but when we look back on our life, wouldn't it be nice to know that you loved those around you with everything you had, with no regrets?
I'm not gonna remember the times that you commented on my twitter status, or even that YouTube link that you posted on my wall... I'm gonna remember the times that someone took my call in the middle of the night, or when I ran out of gas and someone drove out to help me, or someone bringing me my favorite coffee just because... I could go on but I think you get the idea (if not we may need to address other issues with you than "being present").
Be present and let your actions be the truth that bring your words to life.
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