DAY 86: The Power of Being Here Now

You can totally escape your past.

You can be completely disinterested in wondering about your future.

Where does that leave you?

Being here now.

For 1 second or 60 seconds, maybe even a few minutes.

Just be in the present moment.

It’s easier to do if you take a deep breath and close your eyes.

As you do, say to yourself,
“I am here now.”

Then take another deep breath and say,
“I am breathing in. I am breathing out.”

This is a simple technique I learned from Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk known as the father of mindfulness.

It’s so simple and only takes seconds.

And it gently brings you back to the present.

The more often you do it, the easier it becomes to be here now more often, and for longer periods of time.

Worrying or feeling guilty about the past doesn’t change anything.
The past is over.

Worrying or being fearful of what the future may bring doesn’t change anything either.

This quote from Mark Twain captures it perfectly:

“My life has been filled with terrible misfortunes, most of which have never happened.”

Feeling guilty about the past doesn’t help you or anyone else.

Often, the things you feel guilty about aren’t even remembered by the other person.

And you’ve carried all that weight for no reason.

The present is your salvation.

In the present, all is well if you allow it to be.

In the present, you can begin again and go in any direction your soul desires.

What if a big part of the trauma you’ve been through was to release an old structure in your life that you couldn’t see was no longer serving you?

What if the life you’re wishing you could go back to was meant to fall away?

What if, just like the evolution of a butterfly, that was your caterpillar stage?

When the caterpillar is sure its life is over, what’s actually happening is that it’s entering a cocoon.

A space where it has the time and stillness to completely transform.

To become something entirely new.

A change in perspective can release a lot of weight.

Especially if you’re mourning a life you can’t return to.

With or without a major upheaval, we are always growing and changing.

We can’t go back to being who we were last year, or even last month, because we’re always becoming more of who we truly are.

We just notice it more when something big shifts.

So don’t mourn the caterpillar.

Allow yourself the cocoon if that’s where you are right now.

Soon, you will reemerge.

Today’s Gentle Practice

Take a moment today and come fully into the present.

Take a slow breath.

And gently say to yourself:

I am here now.

Let everything else fall away, just for a few seconds.

You don’t have to figure anything out.
Just be here.

If this resonated, I’d love to hear from you.
Just reply and share what came up for you.

With you,
Lynn