Staying in the Present Moment:

How many of us can really say we do this consistently?  I’ll  be honest.  That’s why ALL of my challenges arise.  We all know people who simply can NOT stay in the present moment.  People who always look ahead.

It’s when we look ahead that we fall behind.

How many times have you fallen into a quagmire, fallen into the depths, fallen into turmoil when you’ve attempted to manipulate the outcome of a particular challenge you’ve faced?

How many times have you said:
If only this would happen. When what you SHOULD REALLY have been saying was:
Thank you for this present moment.

Don’t look ahead to some far off future.
Don’t be wishing for some gift to arrive in the future.

That’s when the turmoil can arise.
That’s when you can very easily fall into the pit.

Stay in the present moment.
Be happy now.

I understand that it is very easy for me to sit here and say this.  The challenge becomes putting this into practice on a daily basis.  I’ll be the first to admit that I fall into my old paradigm easily and I can very easily be looking into my own crystal ball wishing for something.  But as I’ve said here before I’m fortunate enough to recognize when this happens and I do my best to pivot.  The pivot doesn’t always happen immediately but as long as I continue to work at it I know that eventually I’ll dig myself out.

We all have to become aware of when we are not in the present moment, when we are attempting to manipulate an outcome, when we are wishing for something to change YESTERDAY.  Recognizing it is half the battle.  Once we see what we’re doing we can start move beyond.

Start to recognize when you’re NOT in the moment!

I’m currently reading a book called Man Seeks God.  Wow!  Very reminiscent of the movie Oh my God.  The author of Man Seeks God. Eric Weiner has a medical emergency that sends him on a quest to find HIS God.  He narrows his search to several regions.  I just finished the chapter on Buddhism.  I resonate quite a bit with this religion myself as I believe MANY of their precepts.  One quote I found particularly enlightening was this one that describes Buddhism:
I know of religions based on grace, or submission, or learning.  Buddhism is based on the pause, a tiny barely perceptible pause between our thoughts, a pause that, while we normally are not even aware of its existence, contains the entire universe.

So why did I include that in this column?

Be Happy!  Be Well!  Be Positive!
Blessings to you.
—
Chris