Present..... NOW.... Present Moment

What is the Present? NOW? This is another of those questions I hope to explore on this blog. I looked up "now" in Webster's and it says the present time or moment... so I had that much already!

Think of every moment leading up to this moment in time... that is past. Every moment that has not yet happened, that is future. If we imagine that both of those do not exist, what we are left with is NOW. In reality the past no longer does exist since it is over and in reality the future has not happened yet, so in reality, all we really are left with is NOW! I would love to hear comments you may have on that!

So if that is the case, why do so many of us (myself included) act as if we are in the past or future. Some planning for the future is good! To paraphrase Marianne Williamson, "Don't just show up at the airport and expect there will be a seat for you on the plane where you want to go!" I am talking more about getting lost in the future, like living for the weekend or looking forward to a special event to the exclusion of where you are in the moment.

Many of us act from the past as well. Have you ever had a heated exchange with someone only to recount it over and over in your head for the next hour, or day or week or longer.... and all the lucky people in your life also usually get to re-live it again with you! We've all done that!

I'll share an example from my own life. In 11th grade, I was the passenger in the front seat of a car that was in an accident. My head hit and broke the windshield (I can hear some of you saying - "OH, that explains a lot!") ;) My point is that to this day, I am still a very nervous passenger because of that accident nearly 30 years ago. How can something that happened 30 years ago in the past have such an influence on me NOW? If I could let it be in the past, it would be over, right?

So far, I think I am asking more questions that answering!
Join me in the present!
Penelope