“Be in the now”, “live in the now”, “be present’; modern day consumable mantra for the masses. Governance of the soul that is literally eons old. The Buddha spoke of it, Alan Watts narrated it, Eckhart Tolle authors upon it.
There is a chance that, as you read this, you are in the now. You are simply here, reading. For these four minutes, there is no yesterday, no tomorrow, no to-do list. Just here. Just now. Why? Because it’s simple. Your presence of now requires something very simple; your attention and a brief amount of time. Reading this, or not reading this for that matter, doesn’t come with any apparent “consequence”. It doesn’t impact your health, your loved ones, your future or your bank account. It will disappear as easily as it appeared and, for all intents and purposes, you could be no better or no worse for it. So, for these few moments, it’s easy to be in the now; fully present, embracing what is, whether consciously or not.
As I write this, I am too here. In the now. There is nothing else taking up my space but this. I know, however, that maybe not immediately, but sooner than later, life will catch up to my current presence of now. It’s how I think of it; that being in the now is being ahead of “life”. “Life”, with quotations. Very soon, I will be back in a pattern of thinking about “life”; the decisions I’ve made, the decisions I will have to make and the decisions I don’t even yet know about.
I’m learning, though. I’m learning about what “now” means to me. It doesn’t mean to ignore the past and not learn from it, but it means to leave it there. It doesn’t mean to disregard the future and live as though each day was your last, but it means to appreciate and respect the finality of it. I want to be in the “now” because I know it will most constructively use what the past has taught me and most beautifully create the future that is waiting for me.
I know that it’s a redundant theme around here but, for me, it’s everything to do with what’s in my Heart. Being in the “now” means living what’s in my Heart and not caring what I think. Yes, you read that right. Not caring what I think. It’s one thing to be concerned with what others think; it’s a true presence of spiritual being to not be concerned with what you, yourself, think. It means that you’ve discovered what is most important to your Heart and you do the best you can to live that every day. It means that you don’t care how many times you screw up or feel you could have done better. It means that you don’t care about emotions like pride and justice and being right; emotions that don’t serve your authentic self. It means that you’re finding peace within.
I’ve experienced that living the truth that is in your Heart is where peace is found. And, peace is being in the now. When we feel peace, we have a lot easier of a time with being present. You will feel it when you know you’re there. You will feel like both you and a greater power are both in control and in charge. It’s what will allow you to be present in whatever it is that is happening. You can experience peace in any emotion. You are allowed to still be scared or nervous or excited or joyful or anything; it’s just, are you living what’s true? True to what’s in your Heart?
Be Love.
