Now is the Time

Tomorrow hasn't happened yet. Tomorrow is in the future.

You can prepare for it, wisely and without stress, but you can't deal with something that hasn't happened yet. When you get to tomorrow, you find it is another NOW to contend with.

Yesterday is in the Past. Past means it has already gone and you can't change what happened. You can deal with the after-effects, gently and with sensitivity, but this is always done in the Now. The present.

The problem with regularly:

·       Anticipating and fearing tomorrow, and

·       Remembering and wallowing in the past,

is you never take time to enjoy the Now.

And being in the Now really is a Secret that many of the ancients tried hard to get us to understand. It is so important.

Living in the Now. Being in today.

One of the greatest gifts we can give someone is our attention. How many times have you been with someone, and they are not 'there' with you? Their mind is always somewhere else, pondering some dilemma, when they should be here looking into your eyes. This is especially hard if you have a Lover, where you look into their eyes, and they are somewhere else, not with you. You feel like slapping them! Look who's right here now! You are missing what's under your very nose! I know all this because I was such a person, who was never Present in the Now. My Now as a child was so unpleasant, I tried to escape it daily.  Today my Now is very pleasant, but it has still taken me years to unlearn this habit. The pain is gone, but the habit remained. And we know what to do with bad habits don't we - simply replace them with good ones.

The reason it's called the Present, is because that's what it is - A Present. A Gift. For people who are terminally ill, every current moment is a present, a gift.

How can we stop escaping from the Now and instead revel in it and enjoy it?

Here are some ideas how to remain in the Now:

1.     Write. Simple isn't it. Write down (or type) your thoughts, your feelings, your story, or make up a story. It will require you to reach down (or up) into that creative part of you that is free from restrictions and burdens.

2.     Play a sport. I play table tennis, and by the end of a session, my senses are heightened, attuned, so alert, and I feel so alive and Here.

3.     Compose some music. I teach people to play guitar and piano. I encourage them to go home and tinker on their instrument. Play a chord and hum a tune to it. It will never be wrong, because it is all Art. You may find time stands still for you.

4.     Go for a peaceful drive. DON'T put the radio on! Instead, enjoy driving like an advanced driver. Change gears mindfully, feel them in, ease the clutch up. Pretend you have a fragile load in the back - glide around corners gently, brake deliberately. I do many hours of driving in silence.

5.     Go for a walk in the country, and deliberately fix your mind on your surroundings. Listen to the sound of your feet swishing through the grass, the crunch of rocks. Feel the wind on your cheek. It is so Grounding, so therapeutic, makes you stable, calms you down.

6.     Sit in the garden and focus on the birds, on the clouds, on the branches bending in the breeze. It's like watching an extremely relaxing film, only this is real, in the Now.