Most everywhere I look today, I see many people is a hurry, impatiently waiting in the fast-food restaurants, looking at their watches, busily checking their PDA’s, and speeding along the superhighways, while others brag about their ability to multi-task. How sad. Talk with them and their conversation is perched in the future and their stress or impatience abounds. In effect, they are busily racing toward death. What about the present?
Too many tend to regard the present moment as an obstacle to overcome by rushing to the next moment, which we falsely believe will bring the fulfillment we are looking for. Is happiness really somewhere in the future? I believe not.
What is your relationship to the present moment? How are you relating to it? These are two critical questions to ask yourself. Your entire life only happens in this moment. The present moment is life itself. Yet, people live as if the opposite were true, and treat the present moment as a stepping stone to the next moment — a means to an end.
Consider that our continual racing from one thing to the next tends to cause impatience and stress. How about slowing down and savoring the “now” of your journey? Consider the beauty and art of nature around, your relationships, and the magic of your body and how it works. What are the lessons and opportunities that life is constantly bestowing upon you? Racing along with no focus in particular and you will invariably and always miss so much. And think about your health and aging. Do you really believe that a mindless sprint to nowhere benefits your vitality?
Some suggest you try mini meditations throughout the day, as a way to focus on the present moment. Take several deep breaths and say to yourself, “I am here now in this.” This stops our constant stream of thinking or chatter, the “monkey voice” in our head, which is often negative and self-defeating. It is the voice of doubt and fear that prevents us from being present and our creative best. This can accomplish casting out the mind clutter and completed in a few instants for those of you preoccupied by a quick fix.
Don’t wait to be happy. Slow down and enjoy making this moment an aware little success of savoring. Be in the present moment, fully enveloped in whatever you are doing. That is success and there’s no time like the present!
