by Charles "Tom" Brown
Comments often heard on this prison yard are, "I can't wait to get out of here" and "I'll be happy when I'm finally released." Those thoughts are understandable, but a fixation on some future event can rob us of the reality and the richness of the present moment.
Most of us go through life waiting for the next "high" - the next relationship, the next dessert, the next vacation, the next adventure, the next big game, the next pizza, the next movie, the next television show. We look for the next something to look forward to, something to get us through the day. We also often dwell in the past, remembering what was and what could have been. In our minds our lives spill from the past into the future. When we conveniently skip over the present moment, we don't experience its value, its relevance.
Much of the time we are about that which will not matter in the least next year, next month, or next week. What do we think is so important? In my earlier life, many things that seemed important have come and gone. Looking back now, it's hard to imagine what I thought was so significant about those things.
From today's perspective, it seems like I have lived many lifetimes within this one. Looking back from this vantage point, it appears that I was stumbling blindly through life, hardly knowing what I was doing, lacking awareness of the true nature of others and the world around me. Yet, at the time, I considered myself intelligent and perceptive. I even thought I knew what I was doing. How strange - this dichotomy between how we see ourselves at the time and how we see our selves in retrospect.
Everything comes and goes; everything changes and quickly vanishes. We are not even the same person we were five years ago, or two y ears ago. We are not our circumstances; we are not our immediate problems. In a sense it is hard to keep up with what we are except to recognize what is eternal and changeless.
Do we recognize and appreciate the truth of this or are we too preoccupied with temporary changing events? What a wondrous play of consciousness this life is! If we could truly grasp what is going on now, we would never be bored. There would be a sense of wonder. And as we bend and adapt to the uncertainties of each moment, it will allow us to relax and enjoy the ebb and flow of life.
Everything has been leading up to this. We exist as much in eternity right now as we ever will. The entire creation exists in the moment. This is it!
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