Right Here, Right Now
by Alexander Green

Bob Williams, a fellow editor at The Oxford Club, has been following a disciplined meditation practice for more than two years.

He says it helps him stay calm, clear and focused on the present moment.

It shows. Although he has a mountain of responsibilities, I never see him looking harried, tense or anxious.

Perhaps he's on to something.

After all, the present moment is all we have. There was never a time when your life was not now, nor will there ever be. Your life is and always will be "this moment."

The odd thing about this realization is that it is both bone-crushingly obvious and, at the same time, rarely acknowledged.

Each day we're caught up in our own personal dramas. We struggle to meet the deadline, finish the project, make the appointment, pick up the kids, drop off the car, stop at the bank, visit the folks, plan the dinner... Motoring around, we are swept up in thoughts about the past or, more likely, endless planning about the future.

By living in a state of distraction, we deny ourselves the only time we have to be fully present. Right now.

Trust me, you cannot savor your Asian chicken salad with water chestnuts and sliced tangerines if you're worrying about next week's budget meeting. Nor can you enjoy your afternoon by the lake with your grandson if you're talking on your cell phone or fuming about the reset rate on your mortgage.

You can only appreciate the good things in your life when you're fully present. Doing this allows you to minimize the negatives, too.

All of us face situations that are depressing, frustrating, or maddening. Yet, more often than not, our anxieties are the result of our own faulty thinking. It may be tough to admit, but it is our mindset - rather than the situation itself - that creates negative emotions.

As Shakespeare wrote, "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." Truly, it is your thoughts that torment you, not your problems.

Some may disagree. After all, if you have a child with a serious drug addiction or a parent who is dying of cancer, the problem isn't in your mind. It's real.

But there are only two kinds of bad situations in this world: Those that can be solved and those that can't. If you have a situation that can be solved, get busy fixing it. If you have one that can't, get busy accepting it.

After all, it is your thoughts that determine your happiness. The good news is that you can control them. That's the power behind Reinhold Niebuhr's well-known Serenity Prayer:

"God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can; and Wisdom to know the difference."

Incidentally, while Niebuhr wrote this prayer roughly 70 years ago, there is a rhyme dating back to 1695 that expresses a remarkably similar sentiment:

For every ailment under the sun
There is a remedy, or there is none;
If there be one, try to find it;
If there be none, never mind it.

But when something truly sad or tragic happens, how do you keep from minding it? There is no easy answer to this one. Some wounds only time can heal. But returning to the present moment can help.

As Eckart Tolle writes in "The Power of Now," "Narrow your life down to this moment. Your life situation may be full of problems - most life situations are - but find out if you have any problem at this moment. Not tomorrow or in 10 minutes, but now. Do you have a problem now?"

Tolle says it's impossible to feel troubled when your attention is fully in the Now. You have situations that need to be dealt with or accepted - yes. But only worries about the future or regrets about the past can turn them into personal quagmires.

Skeptics may argue that altering your thinking doesn't change the problem, just your perception of it. But that's the magic of it. Higher awareness is often the prelude to a solution.

Tolle says, "Accept - then act. Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it. Make it your friend and ally, not your enemy. This will miraculously transform your whole life."

How do you get started? Ironically, by becoming conscious of your lack of consciousness - something the majority of us never do - you take the first step toward an elevated state of mind. Your ability to enjoy your life, and deal successfully with your problems, increases the moment you become fully present.

Beware, though. Living in the present moment means abandoning your old ways of thinking. In the present moment there is no judging, cherishing your opinions, or nurturing discontent.

It means slowing down. Relaxing. Focusing on your breath. Listening to the breeze outside. Or just taking a good look around.

You have the opportunity to enhance your life simply by choosing where to direct your attention. And where should that be?

Right here. Right now.

Carpe Diem,

Alex

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