friend this moment

I once did a retreat with Sylvia Boorstein on the Brahma Viharas, or Divine Abodes (loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity). On the first night, she gave us a mantra and suggested we say it over and over as we went through the hours between the end of the evening talk and the beginning of the morning -- while brushing our teeth, lying in bed, walking to (silent) breakfast, between bites of food.

"May I meet this moment fully; may I meet it as a friend."

How do you see each moment -- as a friend to be welcomed warmly? An assassin waiting to kill you? A trap? A refuge?

How would your life be different if you took an attitude of friendship toward each moment? What would that look like? How would it feel?

Can you give it a try?

Maybe on the meditation cushion? Instead of, "argh, I still can't move?" can you relax into the moment, drop the wariness, take off the armor, and greet the moment as a friend, looking forward to what it brings?

‎"Welcome the present moment as if you had invited it. It is all we ever have, so we night as well work with it rather than struggling against it. We might as well make it our friend and teacher rather than our enemy." Pema Chodron