Get into the present and grab your time and don't worry about the past or what problems you might face in the future.
Clouds constantly change their appearance as they move across the sky
Even more than in the 1970s when PinkFloyd wrote these lyrics, people have forgotten that time, and living in the present, is a gift from God to enjoy and make it what you want. We should all be grateful that we are alive, and are given the opportunity to make the world a better place.
The greatest enemy to living in the moment and making things work for you is pre-occupation with the past and the future, wasting time on scenarios that only happen in our mind and in fact never materialize and actually occur.
So many of us are boggled down by the bad things that have happened to us, and our mind set is that we remain a victim to those things that happened. But really, you are only a victim as long as you allow yourself to be, or even worse, as long as you make yourself one.
There are people who revel in being a victim, because that’s all they’ve ever known. They are comfortable in their habits, and they seem to have committed their lives to staying there as long as they live. Don’t be one of those people. Don’t be stuck milling over a painful world that you went through, and therefore have no future.
The other great enemy of your happiness is what can happen in the future. Some people live their lives dreaming of what might be that never comes. There are people who are living for the day they win that lottery, and every night they sit in front of the TV with great anticipation hoping that their numbers will come in, as their bills continue to mount. There is nothing wrong with playing the lottery, but meanwhile, getting a good job that will pay your bills is far more pragmatic.
Living is meant to be an active process, and if you don’t keep up with it, it will take the direction away from you. Living is growing, changing, circulating your vitals and finding new worlds while you change the old ones. Living is actively getting off your butt and participate into the mess, learning, moving, becoming a force in yourself instead of being taken over by it. Sit in that miserable job for years and accept that comfortable paycheck and one day you realize that life has passed you by. Stay in that miserable marriage without doing something about it and one day you realize that life is passing you by. Time waits for no man, and as time goes by, you suddenly see that you have wasted what could have been active choices and abundant living.
You are only given your life once, and that’s why today is called “the present.” Take your present, unwrap it, and enjoy it.
There is only one way to overcome the inheritance of a bad past or the hopeless end of a future that never comes, and that is to live in the “Now”, to enjoy the present in all its glory. In fact, it is only by living in the present that you have any power to make your life and the lives of those around you better.
Living in the present gives you power to do something about your life and the lives of others around you. You can activate choice, and you can do it immediately. You can chose to motivate yourself, to move out into that ‘cruel’ world and make it better. If you need to get a better job, now is the time. If you need to love your kids, now is the time. If you need to get a better understanding of God and the Universe, now is the time. If you need to make amends with a friend or a loved one, now is the time. If you want to enjoy their company, now is the time. If that car needs fixing, now is the time. If you desire a better place to live, now is the time. If you wish to get out of that unhappy relationship, now is the time. You are not going to live forever. In fact, the only thing you know for sure is that you are going to die.
So start living!
What are you waiting for? To win the lottery? Are you waiting for your children to get nicer? Are you waiting for Prince Charming to magically appear on his horse and scoop you up and take you to his castle? Well, here is a truth; nothing is not going to happen until you make it happen.
So make it happen! Stop whatever it is you’re doing for a moment and listen to the wind singing in the leaves on the trees. See how the branches sway, how they enjoy the breeze, how they take in every moment without worry and enjoy their existence. Look at the clouds and see their glory. They revel in their existence as their shape changes in front of your eyes while moving across the sky. Listen to the people around you that are within earshot: Those are the people you need to interact with right now, those are the people who need your help! Help them. Stop the drama of your past and dreaming of the future. Get into the present and grab your time and don’t worry about what problems you might face in the future. Take the Power of Now and influence that future to be shaped and sculptured in your favor by the choices you make today, right now. The greatest power of the present is its ability to influence the future by the choices you make today. So decide what you want to do, what you need to do, prepare for it as best as you can and do it, NOW.
