The Power of Now. Hmmm, the Power of Now. What does that mean really? Some things come to mind like a bumper sticker I read today that said, “just be” and the phrase I always hear “let go.” But what does it all really mean “just be”, and how do you get there? How do you know you’ve arrived? Is is something you should be able to maintain 24/hrs/day or just brief moments? The bigger question for me is why, why do I want to live in the Now.
Bare with me on this post. It’s most likely going to be me working through what I’ve been understanding about this concept and experiencing first hand. I also want to note that I’m expressing my opinions on some of these ideas because I’ve been checking them out for myself through experience. Only through experience will you know if there is any truth it in for you.
What I have found is that the trying to be in the”now” is really hard with our human minds and constant thought. We tend to live all day in our heads with our thoughts. Constant chatter that mostly has no purpose, and quite often can cause us much suffering. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think ‘thinking’ is bad, it just can hinder us from living in the now.
Most thought exists in the form of memories (past) or what’s going to happen next (future). Again this isn’t good or bad, it just is. However, living in thoughts of the past (which is gone) and the future (which you can’t live in and know till you’re there,) has us missing out constantly on what is in front of us right now. The “now” is truly the only thing you have. Let me say that again, in your life the present moment “the Now” is the only thing that exists.
What we all fail to realize is that most times we make decisions in the “now” that are based on reactions we have learned from our past experiences, or ideas & opinions about how we think something should be. Many of these decisions are reactionary and not well thought through.
I’ve found through experience that becoming Aware and Present in all situations that everything is as it is. So what does that mean? For good or bad, the experience you’re having at any given moment just IS. Your perception (based on your collective past) is what makes it good or bad, happy or sad, etc. Many of us are always looking to change the current situation and not accepting what IS at that moment in time. By accepting what IS doesn’t mean that you need to be complacent and not take action, it just means that for any situation, learning to accept it first will allow a more powerful form of action to take place that comes from a calmer deeper part of yourself.
So that brings it back around to “let it go” or “just be.” When we hang on to (or should I say stay attached) to the past (people, places, things) or ideas of the future, we are always on an emotional roller coaster. Depending on how good or bad we see our past or future this coaster can be crazy. It’s not possible to truly live in the past or the future, yet we all try so hard to do it all day long. Meanwhile, missing the opportunities to look at every new situation with fresh eyes (no labels, judgments, etc) to see how great it could truly be.
Most people don’t realize the truth of this until they’re coming close to death. You hear these people say, “the Thing’s in life don’t really matter, enjoy every moment to the fullest.” On a much deeper level, becoming aware that you are Present, brings about a state of peace, love, joy that is your being and can’t be explained but needs to be experienced.
As I practice trying to live in the Now or being Present, I get glimpses of this state. When I started reading about this idea I tried to think of times that I’ve experienced things where maybe I wasn’t living in my head and perhaps was Present. I wanted to see if I could remember what the feeling was that was associated with being Present. I thought, there must be times in my life I was really living in the Now, right?
Dancing, Dancing, Dancing. So many times to live music whether indoors or outdoors, or just in my house . I have found myself completely immersed in the music and can look back at the amazing aliveness that I felt throughout my body. During these times I’m not having thoughts reminiscing about the past or thinking about what I need to do tomorrow. I’m completely “in it” in the moment, in a zone. I bet most of you have had these moments where you’re completely present and you don’t realize it. When we are completely Present in anything we are doing, we can do it to the fullest extent. Really great athletes, understand this concept. I would say the greatest of all time to me is Tiger Woods. He understands the power of living in the Now and does so out on the green time after time.
So in very practical terms I haven’t felt the full Power that living in the Now can bring, but I enjoy life more and feel fullfilled when I’m Present. I find myself at work sometimes doing something and then I’m faced with a challenge. It could be a variety of things, but say the challenge strikes a level of irritation within me. The irritation is usually born out of me wanting the situation to be different than it is. If I recognize this, I can take a moment to be still, take a deep breath, and tell myself that the situation is as it is and that I need to accept it. Sometimes this takes a few moments with some repetition. I can then feel the irritation dissipate and I’m ready to take action to face the challenge from a calm Present state. I’m no longer facing the challenge with mere reaction, but from a clear state that no longer has negativity attached to it. I find my stress level to be at a minimum these days, just by accepting initially whatever the situation brings. Note: In times of clear danger, your fight or flight instincts will take over with a disregard of acceptance :)
Life is very fragile and many of us know how quickly someone can be taken away from this world or how quickly your own life could be taken. I think that’s the true message of “just be”, “live in the now”, and “let go.” It’s very hard to detach yourself from the things in your life that you’ve had or currently have and its also hard to not constantly look forward to a better tomorrow, but if you can make small steps toward this, you’ll have a lot more joy and contentment in your life.
My friends Mayra & Miranda in their passing have blessed me with the courage to try and live my life to the fullest and appreciate the Now for my future may never come. I’m thankful for all that life has given me and I hope to become a truly positive, loving, inspirational, & nonjudgmental individual in all situations.
If you’re interested in a book about living in the Now, I recommend “Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle. I’ve only read pieces of it, but I’m reading another Tolle book and will be reading it next. I think he has a good understanding of this theory and shows you how to put it to practice in your life.
~Peace & Love
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Enlightenment consciously chosen means to relinquish your attachment to past and future and to make the now the main focus of your life.
~Eckhart Tolle
Right, so I’ve been listing to Eckart’s Realization of Being… Its dead on for what your saying … and from what I can tell this is a state of mind time of thing I havent heard Eckart say anything about effecting external patterns through being “connected” Are you getting that from some other reading or does he get into that in his other books?- Marcus