Thursday, October 12, 2006
LIVE NOW!
All you have is now.The measure of our peace of mind and the measure of our personal effectiveness are determined by how much we are able to live in the present moment. Regardless of what happened yesterday and what might happen tomorrow, NOW is where you are.From this point of view, the key to happiness and contenment must be in focusing our minds on the present moment.One of the beautiful things about young children is that they absorb themselves totally in the present moment.They manage to stay totally involved in whatever they are doing, whether it be watching a beetle,drawing a picture,building a sandcastle or whatever else they choose to devote their energies to.
As we become adults,many of us learn the art of thinking about and worrying about several things at once.We can allow past problems and future concerns to crowd into our present such that we become miserable and ineffective.WE also learn to postpone our pleasures and our happiness,often developing a notion that sometime in the future everything will be much better than it is now.The high school student thinks,"When I'm out of this school and don't ahve to do what I am told,then everything will be great!"He leaves school and suddenly recognizes that he won't be happy until he has left home.He leaves home and starts university and then desides that when he gets his degree,he will soon be really happy.Eventually,he gets his degree at which time he realises that he won't be happy unless he gets a job.He then gets his job and has to start at the bottom of the heap.You guesses it.He was not happy yet.As the years roll by,he postpones his happiness and peace of mind until he gets engaged,gets married,starts buying a home,gets a better job,starts a family,gets the kids in school,owns his home,gets the kids out of school,retires...and he drops dead before he can really be happy.All his present moments were spent on planning for a wonderful future which had never arrived.
Do you relate at all to this kind of story?Do you ever know of anybody who has been putting off being happy until some time in the future?The thing about being happy is that you are mostly involved with the present.We decided to be happy on the journey,not just when we reach our destination.Similarly, we ccan postpone spending time with the people who mean the most to us.A study was carried out some years ago in the United States where the object was to determine how much quality time the middle class fathers spend witht their young children.The participants had microphones attached to their shirts to monitor how much communication took place between father and child each day.The study showed that the average middle class father spent about thiry seven seconds quality time per day with his child.No doubt many of them had great plans for spending time with their loved ones "when the house is finished","when the pressure is off at work","when there is more money in the bank"...the point is that none of us has a gurantee that we will still be here tomorrow.Now is all that we have got.
Living in the now also means that we enjoy whatever we are doing for its own sake,and not just for the end result.If you happen to be painting your front verandah,you can make a point of enjoying every stroke of the brush,of learning everything there is to know about how best to do the job,all the while being aware of the breeze on your face, the birds singing to the trees and everything else that is happening around you.Living in the now is about expanding our awareness to make the current moment more delicious rather that shutting off.Each of us has the choice,moment by moment,as to whether we really live and absorb and allow ourselves to be touched and affected.Whenever we are living in the present moment,we drive fear from our mind.Essentially,fear is concern over events which might happen sometime in the future and this concern can be paralysing to the point where we find it almost impossible to do anything constructive.However,you are only open to intense fear when you are being inactive,The minute you start to take action and actually do something,fear subsides.Living in the now is about taking action without fear of the consequences.It is about putting in the effort for the sake of the involvement,without worry as to whether or not we will get our rewards.
It is worthwhile remembering that we cannot replace a something with a nothing.If you have worries on your mind,such as your car has blown up or you have lost your job or your wife left you,it is no easy matter to just empty our your mind and find peace.The easiest way is to take action,get involved,participate.
Ring an old friend or make a new one,go to the gym,take the children to the park or help your neighbour in the garden.
{adapted from Being Happy by Andrew Matthews}
ah well, my grand mother is nagging and mumbbling something now (to me) and i ain't listening.HAHA.
Think more,eat less.
Drink more,sleep less.
Write more,talk less.
Love more,die fast.
//GARY CHAW//
school of witch craft at 9:38 AM