“Now” is a bearable burden. What buckles the back
is the added weight of the past’s mistakes and
the future’s fears.
I had to learn to close the front door to tomorrow
and the back door to yesterday and settle down
to here and now. – Anon
How much of your day, and sleepless night, do you dedicate to your past, or to your future; to the “what could have been’s” to the “what if’s?” If you’re like most of us, you usually aren’t really present in the here and now, even when you’re fully awake. We spend too much of our lives in that perpetual dream-state of past regrets and future anxiety. This tendency is a bad habit that takes over our lives, diminishing our potential for a better, happier life, a life that gives us the ability to be fully engaged.
Like most bad habits, this one can be removed from your life, or at least modified. First, in order to detect and define what this past and future dislocation feels like, catch yourself in your day dreams and night anxieties, when you are aware that your more peaceful present is being shoved aside. Then open your awareness to the real present, this special precious moment when you can relax and make decisions that will benefit you and give you pleasure. This is your intention, the authentic “here and now”, the realization and commitment that you are in charge.
Then, after feeling the surging power and pleasure of being here, inside your own skin and now, in this unique moment of your life, you can create an on-going attention to how you are really feeling, how you are in control of your consciousness and how you can immediately take whatever action your self-enhancing decisions requires.
Allow yourself to feel each precious moment. Don’t “should yourself”, don’t do what other people have told you that you should or should not do. Unlearn all the bad habits and bad teachings you’ve learned in the past.
Realize that this is your true freedom – the freedom to make your own decisions in your own time, without parents, priests or parsons, friends or enemies, to tell you what you should do or should not do. This is your life and you have the inalienable right to live it by your own wisdom and your own decisions.
Kick the habit of mindless heeding what other people in other times told you. Be your own boss in the truest sense of the word. Begin right now to create your new intention to be truly present in every moment. Pay attention to those subtle moments whenever you find yourself losing touch with your present, your reality and humanity.
Remember Mr. Anon’s advice: “Learn to close the front door to tomorrow and the back door to yesterday, and settle down to your own here and now.”
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(Want to respond, comment, suggest? Contact: rreed@ram-mail.com)
