Good Afternoon! Today I wanted to speak to you about now, this moment. Many times we really do not think about now unless we are very good at practicing mindfulness. For some reason, we always seem unsatisfied with now. Things are not quite good enough now, I am ok for now, etc.
We always seem to focus on the future instead of the now. Why is that? Perhaps because the future is so promising. We can be hopeful that the future will be better than now. But will it? We spend many years looking forward to the day we can retire and begin enjoying our lives. What are we waiting for? Why can we not learn to enjoy our lives now? Why can we not appreciate the very things before us?
I had a neighbor who just two weeks after he retired and moved to Arizona, fell over dead in his driveway of a heart attack. His wife and him had looked forward so much to retiring and playing golf every day and living the good life. My own father lived only a few years past his retirement. We hear ‘tomorrow is guaranteed to no one’ and nod our heads solemnly. But deep down, this does not have much of an impact. We take tomorrow and many tomorrows for granted. We think tomorrow will be better than what is in front of us now.
It is vital that we become awake to the present moment. I cannot stress this enough. Now is all we have. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow may not come at all. What are you waiting for? Stop sacrificing the pleasure of now for the unknown of the next day. Now is the time to practice. Now is the time to enjoy. Things are not so bad now. These are the good old days so be mindful of them. Learn to find happiness and reward in the everyday routine. Please wake up to the now, now!
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