‘Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves' was a saying that was bantered about when I was a child. It came up in conversation the other day and it occurred to me that it was profound in its simplicity.

I believe the original saying was for the purpose of encouraging people to mind their money, be conscious of their spending and by doing so ensure financial security. However, I began to question my assumption and began to wonder if the person who originally made this statement may have been referring to something else? Perhaps this statement was not as literal as I had first taken it to be?

It prompted me to think of other small units which accumulate and make something bigger. Units which have a greater influence than first given credit for. I thought of moments, our lives for instance are made up of a series of moments, and I believe the most important moment is the present. Yet for many of us staying in the present moment is incredibly difficult. We are either regretting, or wanting to re-write the past or we are telling ourselves we can only be happy when we arrive at a particular destination usually situated in the future. This means at the very best the present gets a throw away glance or it is something which is tolerated as a boring grind until we get to where we really need to be.

What would our lives look like if we remained intensely focused on looking after the present moment? What if we spent our energy focused on creating the best present moment that we could make? What would happen if we tore our gaze from our past, and stopped wishing away our present? What would such a moment look like?

I took some time to ponder this, and although I feel it is incomplete I do think the moment would feel and look something like this. It would be free of ego, self doubt and negativity. Instead it would be overflowing with love for self and others. It would be filled with the confidence that comes from self-awareness. There would be no room for self-doubt, jealousy, and comparison to others. There would be a sense of purpose which comes from trust, trust in self, and trust in others. Acceptance would come easily and there would be no resistance to owning the moment that we had created. This moment would be filled with wonder as we acknowledged our power to create the following moment. It would be filled with comfortable silence and a knowing. It would be empowered.

The pennies are moments, small units of time, and through taking care of how we spend them we will not have to worry about the pounds or our lives. If we spend each moment wisely, it will create the lives that we desire. The moments will accumulate and with that comes financial security, personal autonomy and love.

I am not suggesting that we shouldn't plan or have goals but I do think there is wisdom that comes from setting your goal, and then moving your gaze to the present moment. By living mindfully in alignment with that goal we will navigate our lives consciously. The destination therefore will not be a surprise and fear will no longer be present. The destination will be the logical consequence of a live well lived, or for the sake of our metaphor, a moment well looked after.

Shelley Murphy is a Counsellor, Heal Your Life Workshop Leader, Angel Therapist, Reiki Master, Artist, and Writer who is passionate about personal empowerment. For more information email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit http://users.adam.com.au/buddha/healyourlife.htm