I washed my hair and got dressed. Decided I needed to get my glasses adjusted, so I went to get that done. Afterwards, I made a stop at Kroger’s for a few sacks of groceries. I enjoy grocery shopping, truth to tell. I usually go twice a week.

Rob put up the groceries and said he liked my new outfit. I had thought I would go to the mall, but I didn’t. Now I am in my everyday clothes again. The humidity is off the charts and we get rain most days.

How do we fill our days? It is always interesting to me how someone else fills theirs. I devote a good part of every day to being present. No one can do this for me. It is a gift I give myself. And I usually don’t keep it very long! One minute I am present and the next minute I am miles away.

The mind was born to fret, it would seem. It wants me to look better, have a more interesting life, acquire things that might excite it momentarily. And guess what? I fall for it every time.

Forget saying you are awakened or enlightened. No one is all the time, you know.

Even the highest spiritual teachings require a conscious person to appreciate them and most of us sleep our days and nights away.

I have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep on the physical level. On the spiritual level, I have trouble staying awake.

So this is the human dilemma. The richest and most famous have the most problems. We should be grateful we are neither, for that is when the tests rain down like fire.

Love tests us daily, too. Are we able to love ourselves consciously? That is the most relevant question for us all. Consider giving it a go.

Vicki Woodyard