catching yourself

You are minding your our business, life is carrying on as it does, when all of the sudden you notice something. Something a bit different with your elderly parent. You've heard the same stories over and over all your life, but today that familiar story has changed. A big gap of detail is missing or altered. It doesn't make sense and you question it because, over and over you had heard that story the familiar way not this version. Then you catch your thoughts and realize what it is. A mind's blip in the moment of recall. Symptomatic of something larger. How quick we are to want to "set things straight" and validate our own recollection. What a way to spring back into the present moment as we multitask our way through the day.

Present moment is all we have and we can honor those around us by being present with them and what they have to say. Listen. Decide before you speak whether correction needs to be made and why. Does it matter that a detail is missing or altered in a story? If yes, then tenderness can be delivered as well.