I am sitting in my hotel room in Columbus, OH after driving the past 4 hours and I’m reflecting on the events of the last few days. The countryside we drove through was beautiful (even if it was Ohio) and the travel was safe so I am thankful.

During my reflecting I can’t help but notice the peace that has settled inside me these last few weeks. My wife has even pointed out the difference she sees and the smiles that appear more frequently on my face.

In my last post I talked about the property that we have fallen in love with and the old farmhouse that we moved in to. We have been there over three years now and the debate on whether to build new or fix the old was finally settled late last year. Building new was the outcome.

After scouring through thousands of home plans, we are currently entrenched in the process of building. I am the general contractor and I am sub-contracting all the work out. Without sounding excessively obvious, this process can get very stressful at times. Coordinating the work between the different contractors while making thousands of decisions along the way is enough to drive even a sane person crazy.

I bring this up to stress that even while building a house, working full-time, coaching children’s sports, spending time with the wife and kids, and stealing some personal time to myself, there is still a flow to life that can be tapped into. Instead of getting overwhelmed by the numerous obligations, I find its helpful to only focus on what’s in front of me in the moment. Staying centered in the present moment is a key ingredient to having peace and contentment. If I start to get ahead of myself and think about everything that has to be done then I can almost instantaneously feel the peace being bullied out by stress and uncertainty.

How much peace do you have in your life right now? Do you find yourself stressed out and feeling like life is out of control? Take some extra time to breath and focus on the present moment. Instead of focusing on all you have to get done, take time to focus on the NOW.