Often, the masters teach that the now is the place of divine reality, and I have no argument with that. Yet still, I find that there can also be value in other tenses of being, for certain there are more ways to look at now than there is to look at the past/future. Consciousness, mixed with awareness, and a healthy helping of will can go a long way when sorting through the pages of "what's happening". Lets not forget it's not just what's happening on the outside, it happens also within.
There's no thing more important that this being and the now. It comes to basics as the place where not only things happen, but also the place where all things have led to, and furthermore the place where all moments are leading toward. This may be elementary semantic fodder for some, but within it's simple nature, many have lost the ability to stay in the now. (including myself on some occasions...without gratitude).
There's plenty of ways to stay present, and even more ways to lose ones focus, yet the the strongest way to stay in the present is to not give up, no matter how impossible it may seem to the mind. I assure you within reason, and sometimes without it, there are few obstacles to man, the body is quite durable.
A Sensai in martial arts will tell you that the training is 90%mind and 10%body. I've practiced some martial arts, not a lot, and I have found that this little nugget of information quite true to fact. It is the mind that usually gives up first in a conflict, and it is our minds that keep us from being in the now fully and completely. Our distraction from those things that really do matter, whichever they are, is getting larger and larger everyday. If one can hold onto the now without getting lost in ego attachment and distraction there are no limits that we cannot cross.
We take the motion toward the future each breath, and as we decide where we want to go we create, we live. Bring unconditional love, and acceptance to a new experience, or even every experience, and realizing the now comes into sight. How is it that so many choose to see shadows rather than the now, I may never really know, or perhaps may know and not share.
What I do know is that love is changing me, as I get closer to this place I have been manifesting, I see what I am capable of. A lot of my family talk to me about the "future", and how I'm going to provide for myself in my later years. I had another friend of mine tell me that she always found it funny that I was under the belief that there is always more or something, whether it was money, or food, or some material object. And I told them all the same thing:
"The Universe will provide what I need."
Maybe this is naive, maybe I am out of touch with reality, maybe I just don't want to believe my own mortality. Whichever the case is, one thing is clear, and there is is no mistake in this... the Universe has always provided me with a place be healthy. It was my avarice that brought me to my down times. When I was taking more than I was giving to some, and thinking more than doing with myself, and letting the others take what little I had left away, it was always my choice. I know that now, I didn't before.
Maybe I was herded there by my upbringing, or dysfunctional family life, and lack of knowledge. Maybe I just didn't care enough about myself to make a "better future" for myself. I didn't have a lot to go on to tell the truth, I was poorly prepared for what happened after graduation in 1993 when my son was born.
Those are the shadows I talk about, ...things I have forgiven myself for, and apologized when needed/asked/necessary. I may not like everyone, and I may not get along with everyone, either, and yet I can have respect for everyone even without knowing them, seeing them, or even meeting them.
Living in the now requires that we respect the now, and understand (or rather attempt to understand) its power and value. Just as every person and opinion has power, so does the now. Each person, and each moment is totally unique, like a snowflake. Distinct from all others, into eternity and infinity; each moment is a new fixture for the records of time, and we are all creating it simultaneously in the now here on Planet Earth.
Let the now begin within you and without, with love. That's my final word. Forget what isn't serving, and follow positivity to your success...give more, even if you have nothing more but a smile, or a hug. Contribute to your happiness by sharing it with people; people that "get it" will be with you at your side. The people that "don't" ...let them learn at their own pace. (The greatest way to educate is through personal demonstration. I've learned this from the best/worst)
Happy New Year Everyone
