The Powerful Present Moment

This weekend I am going to spend some time in the powerful present moment.

It is easy for me to forget how much I need and appreciate the present moment.

There are so many pieces of the past competing for the focus of my heart and my mind. Memories and regrets, people with whom I have lost touch, places I would like to visit again try to distract me. The things I have done but would like to forget struggle with the things I hoped I would do but never have for my attention.

There are also chunks of potential futures bouncing around in here. Fears and anxieties, feelings of inadequacy that are about to be confirmed, the expectations that I will not meet want me to listen to them. The ways I will cause disappointment and pain, the books I will not read, the books I will not write, the people I will not help try to catch my inner eye.

There are so many other things that are happening right now, along with the past and the future. All the things I could be doing on the computer, all the things I could be watching or reading or preparing want just a little of my time. I could take a walk to clear my head and open all kinds of possibilities. I could do something really nice for someone else, because that would be a nice thing to do. I could go fix something, because I am certain that something needs to be fixed.

None of these things is inherently bad. Each of them is significant and deserves to be understood. None of them is important enough to keep me from immersing myself in the present.

What distracts you from the inner work you need to do?

When will you take time to open yourself and listen to the present moment?

[Image by Nannette Turner]