Each and every human contains the potential to live a wonderfully happy and successful life where dreams are sought and caught. Trouble is that all the potential in the world still needs $3 to buy a decent espresso coffee. Potential without the ability to release it is frustratingly worse than worthless.

One opportunity to change this is to find a way to awaken to the present moment. We can tend to rush breathlessly from one moment to the next while anticipating problems or yearning for pleasures. In doing so we miss the beauty and closeness of the present which is constantly unfolding before your very eyes.

As you to slow down in the present it is likely you will feel more delightfully alive. You may also increasingly observe that all the sounds, smells, and sceneries surrounding you are as constantly delightful and rejuvenating as the coming and going of your breath.

Another opportunity is to find a way to befriend your self. People can experience struggle as they try to live up to the expectations they or others have of them. Striving to be better is of value, but if you fail to experience the pleasure present in each effort and small progress your passage may be frozen in self doubt.

As you observe yourself outside the cruel constraints of self-judgement and self-denial you will find reasons to become your own best friend. Accepting the glowing facts about yourself as well as any shortcomings will help you grow.

A third opportunity is to open your self up to others. As you awake to present time and open your self to your own experience, you naturally extend this quality of awareness and presence to your relationships with family and friends, and indeed to strangers thus reinforcing it in your self.

One action that enables all these opportunities at once is to practise meditation. One of many places to learn and develop meditation skills is a free group I facilitate at the Manly Community Centre, 12 Wentworth St Manly, between 9.00-1030 AM each Sunday. Feel free to just turn up, or call me for more information.

Martin Hunter Jones is an honorary life member of the Australian Counselling Association. He has a Counselling and Hypnotherapy practice on the Northern Beaches. Phone 9973 4997.