The Now

The NOW… There is real power in it.


On Mondays I start working with clients way before the sun shines... During one of my Monday morning confessionals the topic of how our lives change when we are exposed to new educational or life experiences.


One client is struggling because they have learned through practicing a specialized form of yoga to be in the "now". They have learned to quiet their mind and become blissful just by using some simple strategies. Now on the surface you might say cool... but wherein lies the challenge is that their significant other and other close friends have noticed a dramatic change in their attitude about life and new found patience for problem solving. With these new changes family and friends are sometimes taken aback and don't really know how or what to make of it. The changes have been dramatic, so they feel a little threaten or uneasy by my client's new found calmness in what would normally be a crisis situation.

I am sure you all are acquainted with someone who mind is constantly working…. They just can’t seem to keep from always churning and grinding. They are always thinking about the past, what could have or should have happened or perhaps they are planning some contingency plan or minute detail for a future event. I’m sure if we could harness some of that mind power we just might be able to retire the national debt by saving on energy costs….

We all know people like that. They just never experience “the NOW”. See you can try to live in the future - or in the past, yet it's impossible. All you have is NOW.

It is very true that you can use your present moments to recall the past - as well as to try to visualize the future. You can also use your NOW to be aware of your thinking, breathing and doing - as they are taking place in this very moment.

Whichever you choose, it's still NOW. And there's great power in knowing this. But really understanding about the NOW is very important.

Why?

Because once you understand the past and future can only be experienced in the NOW – you realize that everything that you think or believe – has already happened or will happen – is nothing but a mental movie.

If the past and future are nothing but mental movies, you can write the script, direct the action, call the shots, and decide on which frames to keep and which to throw out. You can even be the in the audience watching it all play out.

In fact, you ARE the audience.

Whenever you remember the past or visualize the future, it's not just YOU in the picture - it's YOU and your other self - the one who is either praising or condemning your actions.

Which are you doing to yourself today? If you're looking at your past and finding the good moments, you're giving yourself the praise you need to perform at your best in the NOW.

If, however, you're condemning what you see in the past, you're making it even harder for yourself to do well in this moment.

Whether you realize it or not, you have acted as the director, editor and cinematographer to the movies in your mind that make up your past. You have even played them a certain way.

The good – no, GREAT news is that you can do a re-make of the old movies. You can “re-shoot” them and package them to your liking. You can take a sad story and turn it into a happy one.

If you were to look at my face, even from a distance you would see a whole host of wrinkles and A LOT of grey hair. If you were to look at my knees, elbows or fingers you would see there are a lot of permanent scratches, scars and bumps. There are a host of infomercials that would sell me a ton of product to try to get rid of those imperfections

If the average person were to see some of those scars, he or she would think of it as awful.

Not me - and not most athletes who have them. We think they're great. We consider them a badge of honor. We wear them with pride. They are our battle scars. Football players and wrestlers, ball players and track stars who have them had to be tough. At least that's the story we tell ourselves to justify the periodic Motrin we take to get through some tough days.


But seriously think of it like this. If I can look at my scars, my wrinkles and my grey hair and put it into a positive light, then I can take anything from my past and figure out a way to make it a good thing.

Granted, some of our memories are not easy to recall. When we watch them we may feel a sense of horror, anger, or guilt. But if we will take a step back; maybe even several steps back; and consider that the past and the future are mere movies in our minds, we CAN make a change in how we feel in the present. Take a moment and consider that we all have the ability to turn our horror flicks - our less then positive moments into something better - if we do, then you really understand the REAL POWER in the NOW.



Til next time...