Once a month my mother and I make a trip up to West Nyack and attend a spiritual and healing gathering lead by Father Bruni. I have known Father Bruni for most of my life and have always had such a divine and spiritual connection with him. Though I have yet to decide my spiritual path, I find myself drawn to the things Father Bruni says because of his questioning mind, humor and amazing way of describing our existence and connection to the divine as well as the universe.  

Sometimes I don’t really understand much of what Father Bruni says but this time one thing he said truly resonated with me. “Start where you are, not where you wish you were.” I was in complete awe at this moment. How many situations could this statement apply to? I sat there pondering this statement and what it meant to me and my life at this very moment. 

I realized that a great portion of my life these past few years has revolved around where I wish I could be rather than where I currently am. When you are young you wish you were older, when you’re older you wish to be young once more. We are not completely satisfied with WHAT IS. The present slips through our fingers because of our obsessions with the past and future. It’s as though we are roaming the earth completely lost in our thoughts, goals, deadlines and Pumpkin Spice lattes that we forget to be content with where we are RIGHT now. 

Sometimes being content with the right NOW is challenge. What if the RIGHT now is not the NOW you envisioned? What if right now is miserable for you? Even if you are miserable, even if you are struggling and even if you haven’t decided to make that first step toward a better you, know that you are loved. Start with what you have, where you are and establish a connection with the divine and know that all is well. 

Father Bruni noted that we may feel we have to be a certain way before establishing a connection with God. You know what? God loves you how you are, where you are. You can’t move forward if you’re not completely present with your present. The saying that “the present is a gift” is 100% true because the gift you are presented with is YOU. The more you take time to work on you where you are, you can truly become the person you envision yourself becoming. A person who is dissatisfied with themselves yet craves a romantic relationship cannot completely attract the person they desire. If you view yourself as horrible or ugly, you will send that energy into the universe and either attract no one or a person who is exactly as you are. 

Find the joy in the present. Find yourself as the gift that you are and embrace the challenges as they come. You can’t be where you wish you could be without being where you are NOW.