Give yourself the gift of the present.
This intricate spider web was only visible for a very brief period of time, while the early morning dew rested on its threads allowing them to be captured by the bright rays of the sunlight coming through the trees. Once the dew was dry and the sun shifted ever so slightly, they were no longer clearly visible.
If I were not focused on the present I would have missed this unique opportunity to see the breathtaking display of beautiful webs in a multitude of tress along the riverbank during my run.
Time can be divided into three categories: the past, present and the future. I’m always curious to know where people spend their time.
The past can be an incredible source of knowledge and it’s where we gather our wisdom. When we recall an experience it can bring back emotion with it. While there are times the emotion creates a warm feeling inside of us, there are also times it may generate a darker sensation of anger, fear or worry.
When the past creates warmth, many times we board the express train to zoom right on through the recall with a “that’s just the way it’s suppose to be attitude.” We don’t take time to let the feeling soak in and bring the experience back clearly into our memory before we rush off.
However, when the past stimulates a darker emotion, many times we choose to hang out in the feeling for days never boarding even the slowest of trains to move on! We may analyze all of the intricate details of the experience to the point of being paralyzed. We can get stuck in the need to make it right because how it happened must have been wrong. We want to prove our point. We want to “show them.” Sound familiar?
The fact is we cannot alter the past. It is what it is, all of it: the good, the bad and the ugly. We can only learn from it and allow it to deepen our wisdom and know that the past doesn’t dictate the future.
What would happen if we flipped the proportions on these two experiences when recalling the past? What if we hung out in the warmth and only stop by the dark for the purpose of learning from the experience? How would our lives be different?
I’m going to jump to the future and my guess is the same could be said for how we manage our visit there as well. We may begin our thinking from a place of success and we zoom through it to then spend hours, days, and sometimes weeks worrying about what will go wrong with our idea or plan or better yet what others may think about our idea or plan.
Back to the previous questions: What would happen if we flipped the proportions on these two experiences? What if we hung out imagining the success of our plan or idea and only stop by the dark side for the purpose of being able to identify possible gaps in our thinking? How would our lives be different?
This brings me back to the present. The most incredible gift we will ever receive and we are given it every day and every moment. Are we making the most of it?
What would happen if we made a conscious decision to spend 90% of our time focused on today, the experience in front of us? What if we simply took the steps needed today to create the future that you desire, not worrying about the steps you may or may not need to take next week and not punishing yourself for the steps you didn’t take yesterday?
What if we set a limit on the time we spend ruminating in the past and worrying about the future? Consciously choose to BE in the moment, to see the beauty and the challenge that is present for you to enjoy and experience growth from today.
I know when I am able to BE, I feel amazing and I can accomplish huge feats. The minute I retreat to the past or jump to the future my energy shifts and I slow down and feel the weight in my body and my spirit becomes dull.
The present is the only place we can create change from, if you are not thrilled with the results your past has produced, you can take steps today to create a different result.
I choose to BE in the present, evaluate and learn from the past and plan for my future. Where will you choose to live the majority of your life, the past, the future or the present? If you would like to talk more about how to become more present in your life click here and schedule a discovery call with me today.