Living in the Present Moment

In a Stephen King novel I read recently, one of the characters says “whatever I do, I rush through so I can do something else.” And I knew exactly what they meant – don´t you? If I´m catching up on e-mails, I´m thinking I´d best hurry up so I can clean the bathroom. If I´m doing Qi Gong exercises, shouldn´t I really be doing Yoga? If I´m reading, why am I not writing? If I´m watching a movie, am I missing out on some sparkling night out? I´m even writing this, wondering if I shouldn´t be preparing dinner by now. And I really need to empty the washing machine. And what about that short story I started a while ago.....

In NLP there is a thing called the Time Line. Some people when they think about time as a line (in their mind´s eye) see the past as a point to the left, running to the future which is a point on the right, with the present right in the middle (sometimes left-handed people see it the other way around). Other people see the past as a point behind them running in a line to the future in front of them. This latter group are usually the best at being present, fully engrossed in what they are doing at any one time. Needless to say, I belong to the former – and I´ve found it does help to consciously change the way I visualise time (from side to side to front to back)...when I remember to do it!

There´s a lot to be said about living in the Now, not least of which is the fact that you really do feel more alive. When your mind is all over the place, flitting from one thing to the next, you tend to miss out on what is actually going on right now. The simple fact is that, in any given situation at any time, there is a whole world of beauty, a whole host of things to notice and to fascinate us, if we will only stop for a second and appreciate them. When you think about it, it´s actually quite rude not to and can in fact, be dangerous. Doesn´t it worry anyone else that you can drive a route you take regularly, and not remember the journey when you get there? It´s like sleepwalking and leaves us feeling at best dissatisfied and at worst out of control and vulnerable.

When we are fully present, living consciously as much as we can, we feel more in control, things stop just happening “to” us and our lives become fuller and brighter. The best way to settle ourselves down when our heads start spinning with all that we should be doing, rather than enjoying where we´re actually at, is plain and simple breathing. Honestly! Within seconds, if we focus on our breath, slow it down, make the inhalations and exhalations of equal duration and breathe deeply into the abdomen, everything kind of slots back into place and before you know where you are, you are right back where you are. Doing whatever it is you´re doing. Couple this with the affirmation that you are always in the right place at the right time doing the right thing with the right people for the right result and you´re onto a sure-fire winner. And once you´re back in the zone, in the Now, it´s a good idea to take a look around – notice something you hadn´t seen before about the room (or wherever) you happen to be. Notice how you´re feeling. Notice how the energy feels. I´m willing to bet a small fortune that something new will reveal itself to you, and you´ll find yourself smiling, happy to be exactly where you are and filled with the wonder of it all. Of being alive.

At the end of the day, it´s handy to remember that time is only an illusion anyway – created simply to stop everything from happening all at once and making an almighty mess. Thinking about this for too long, however, can really screw you up, so don´t try to understand how and why – just realise that Now, this very moment is the only thing that is real, the only thing that matters, the only thing you truly have and this should be enough to humble us all into appreciating it and everything that it is bringing to us. Now.

Bear in mind that the Universe or the Tao is communicating with us all day long, and the only way we can hear & see the magic and the messages for our highest good is by being alive. Right here, right now.

And now, if you´ll excuse me, I´ve got to go and get dinner on!