To her, life is one evolving moment – a perpetual cycle of interdependent impermanence. The watch on your wrist and the clock on the wall mean nothing to Mother Nature. Habits quickly become the norm and, as we know from many of life’s other vices, just because we’re used to doing something regularly doesn’t mean it is good for us, or the right way to live.Īn easy way to break this habit of being a victim of time is to identify time for what it is. Seldom are we fully “here” neutrally centred to see through life’s lens with clarity and naked awareness – a state that assists us in finding contentment and understanding in ourselves. Our routine, our habit, is to be off in our heads somewhere mulling over negativity and struggles of the past, or becoming anxious and fearful of the future. Identifying impending dangers through associations with things that have happened in the past is important for self-preservation.īut when our lives become dictated by thoughts and emotions attached to past events and potential future outcomes, standing peacefully rooted in the present becomes increasingly rare. Of course, it’s natural to spend moments of thought in the past or in daydreams of the future. Or, your thoughts are of the future: what will be, what could be, what might be, if…
Your thoughts are of the past: what has been, what could have been, what you thought happened vs. Your mind is pulled into the past or the future, or both.
When you aren’t being present you become a victim of time. The easiest way to explain living in the present is to start by explaining what it means to not be present, since this is the state we have become habitually used to.