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Newsletters>
Living in the Now
July 11, 2003
Living in the Now ©2003 Dr. Donald Schnell
Your mind is like a TV set. It will give you pictures and
images throughout your day. Your whole day is determined in
the 7 minutes that you choose what program you are going to
watch.
But what channel are you watching? The gossip channel? The
tired and miserable channel? The Somebody done me wrong
channel? Or are you watching the Success Channel? Happiness
channel? The choice is yours.
Take charge of your programming. Make the decision that for
the next 7 minutes you are going to be on the “Winners
Channel”.
Turn on your Winning Potential. Look around you and see
everyone you work with as a winner. If you are at home,
then see your children as winners. See your spouse as a
winner. Reinforce for them whatever it is that they are
doing that is helping them to be a winner. Surround
yourself with winners and you will be a winner.
Next time you catch yourself thinking idly, watch the
thoughts that flow through the mind, what are they? Are you
trying to relive the past? Maybe you are reassessing past
behavior or events? Maybe you are thinking how it would
have been if you acted differently. Are you enacting past
events in your mind? Even when thinking or daydreaming
about the future it is colored by past experiences. If your
past experiences of relationships were pleasant and
positive, that is how you going to think about your future
relationships. If the experiences were negative, that is
how you are going to visualize your future.
It is always the past recreating your life. You may think
about What someone told you, how someone treated you, how
you did this or that. It is always the past. You are
letting the past captivate you and influence your behavior.
Reliving the past is recreating it constantly. You are not
letting change enter your life. If the past was pleasant it
is all right recreating it. But what if it was unpleasant?
Living in the present means being aware of what is
happening, what you are doing, feeling and thinking. It is
being conscious of your thoughts and trying to have your
thoughts focused on the present. In this way you look at
situations as they are, without coloring them with your
past experiences. When you live in such a way you can deal
better with whatever you are doing at the present moment.
You see things as they are, without being influenced by
fears, anger, desires or attachments. There is a story
about two friends traveling by train. One was very nervous,
restless and full of complaints the whole trip. He was
impatient to reach his destination, and disliked every
moment of the trip. He did not pay attention to his
surroundings and his mind was full of impatient, restless
and grumpy thoughts.
His friend, on the other hand, enjoyed the scenery, drank
a cup of coffee, ate a piece of cake and chatted with the
other passengers. He enjoyed each moment the trip. He lived
in the present moment and made the most of it. On arrival
he was fresh and felt good. His friend, as expected,
arrived exhausted, tired and unhappy.
It is a matter of the right attitude. When the attitude
towards events and life is positive, and the present moment
is used to the utmost, life become a happy and enjoyable
trip. Living in the present means concentrating on what is
happening now, enjoying it and making the most of it. Do
you know how many opportunities are missed, because of
dwelling on the past, instead of seeing and being conscious
of what is happening at the present moment? When our mind
is elsewhere, we behave like a robot and repeat the same
mistakes of the past, do the same things, and then complain
that our life is dull and not interesting.
Wake up to the present moment and live in it. The past
happened and passed, so what is the use of reliving it? Do
you enjoy it? If it is a pleasant experience O.K., you want
to relive it and recreate it in your life. But why create
the same event again, if it is an unhappy one? Why do you
repeat something that caused you pain?
We are usually unaware of the process of thinking that is
going in us. We think the same thoughts as a matter of
habit. They come and we do not resist them. We welcome them
even if they are unpleasant. We get accustomed to our
thoughts and habits even if we do not admit it. In this way
they become stronger and more powerful. As our mind
recreates our past, we find that the present is always a
mirror of the past. Then all we have to do is complain.
Weird, foolish, tragic and funny at the same time, isn't
it?
Living in the present means stopping to react impulsively.
It means you can choose how to react to people, events and
circumstances. In this way you can save yourself a lot of
inconvenience and embarrassment. Being aware of what you
are doing, make fewer mistakes and you conduct yourself
better.
Concentrating on what you are doing develops your
concentration; it strengthens your attention, so that work
and study are done more quickly and efficiently. When
living in the past, that is thinking about all things that
have happened, we are enslaves by thoughts and emotions, we
are not free.
On the other hand when concentrating on the present moment,
on what is happening or what we are doing right now, frees
us of unnecessary, burdensome and unpleasant thoughts. We
have then peace of mind.
Try to remember times that you were engrossed in what you
were doing, and believe me there were a lot of these
moments. Did you ever read a book forgetting everything
else? Did you watch a pleasant movie, enjoyed your hobby or
ate a very delicious food? In these moments you did not
think about anything not connected to what you were doing.
You were happy, calm and content. This is the great power
and meaning of living in the present. You also get the
bonus of freedom from obsessing and unpleasant thoughts.
Remember, the present moment is very brief. It always turns
immediately into the past. The future has not happened.
Live in the present.
After a period of time of living and being aware of the
present, a new kind of awareness develops. It is awareness
of freedom, of being alive, of happiness and joy. We come
to realize the peace, calmness, joy and freedom of thoughts
that the mystics talk about. We find out experimentally
that what they are talking about is nothing mysterious,
mystical or out of this life. You find that this is a most
natural and positive state.
Enjoy the present moment! Find the positive, good and
useful in each moment! Refuse to relive the past in your
mind!
Your mind is like a TV-change the channel!
******************************************** Dr. Donald
Schnell
co- founded with Marilyn Diamond of Fit For Life, the
Spiritual Java Coaching Program, that is transforming
thousands. The New Spiritual Diet, Incredible Value, One on
One coaching Amazing Results. http://www.SpiritualJava.com
or email: Donald@SpiritualJava.com Donald Schnell is the
author of The Initiation. Free Motivational Newsletter, The
Buzz http://www.spiritualjava.com
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