"Your words, thoughts, intentions and actions today are your best hope, comfort, building blocks and insurance for tomorrow. But it is now alone that is guaranteed - tomorrow is a dream, a maybe a potential gift. It's now - not tomorrow - where happiness and fulfillment live...awaiting your discovery. It's all this that will make each extra day that may arrive extra special and rich." One of the hardest things for me to do, even after years of practice, is to be present in the present moment. This is especially true when I am worried about something, or feeling stress in important areas of my life. During these times, I am fraught with great worry and agitation and project way into the future. At those times, one of my besties often asks, "Where is your spirituality?" This annoys me as I have usually, during these moments, been frantically praying, or affirming, or doing ritual practice in an effort to connect with my spiritual help. It is what I I know to do when I am off-center. But all my chaotic maneuvers are akin to trying to keep my feet on the ground when one hand is tethered to a hot air balloon that is leaving the ground.
Of course, frantic anything doesn't really net the desired outcome, but I feel desperate to find a way back to the truth that I know and say I believe, a place of even keel that will enable me to become aware of the solution which is already rooted in the problem. What I have learned is that at these moments, it is important to allow myself the space to "act out" briefly without judgment, as that lets the air out enough to pause, re-assess, gather my sensibilities and then choose how to respond to the situation at hand.
"If I were going to begin practicing the presence of God for the first time today, it would help to begin by admitting the three most terrible truths of our existence: that we are so ruined, and so loved, and in charge of so little." ― Anne Lamott, Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers
These days I am much better at staying in the present, but still, my mind flies a thousand miles an hour as it runs down all the potential problems that await me as a result of this or that choice previously made. What I know somewhere in the back of my mind is that I am divinely guided and protected. I know that there is that within me greater than any problem, which seems to have materialized before me. If I can yield to that awareness in the critical moment, I will save myself some angst and anxiety, and potential gnashing of teeth. Deep breathing is good for this, as is meditation, a walk outside with Mama, some uplifting music, or centering prayer.
So how else to practice the presence of divinity within the Self?
We are in some days that are going to require cool heads and the ability to let wisdom prevail in tough times. So, it is so important to figure out now how to find those spaces and places of anchoring, so that we may remember our sense and reason, and act accordingly.
"Nothing is but what is now"
― Ron Rash
Cultivate the practice of bringing your attention to the present moment. For truly, the past is gone and the future may or may not come for us, depending on...
Like a muscle that needs work to stay firm, so too, the practice of bringing the focus to the current moment. When you catch yourself at the height of your personal panic, bring your awareness back and remember that right here where you are, in this very moment, is all you have any possible control over. Say your name, speak out loud the things your eyes see in that moment, or the sounds your ears take in. Remind yourself where you are, what year it is, your dog's name, or any thing that will take you from future-time and bring you back to where you are.
Practice. Practice. Practice. And then, do it again. And again. Eventually, it will become easier and easier. You will dig new grooves of habit and replace the automatic old behavior with your newly acquired skill. You will begin to automatically calm yourself down, or, at the very least, not lose your head when all around you are doing just that.
Practice. Practice. Practice. Make a new habit.
So that in that moment, you can find your peace.
