Tuesday, December 23, 2003

Now

Many people believe the past and future are more real than the present. So often I hear the past determines who you are and the future goals we set for ourselves determine what actions we take right now. So they're more powerful, right? Wrong.

I believe in setting goals to helps up move forward, however I also maintain that what we do right now is what gets us where we want to be. That is why I would much rather people set 'intentions' for the day rather than long term goals which may fall by the wayside. Bottom line is we live in the now or in the moment. Have you ever done anything other than right now? Do you control what might happen in the future or something that's already happened in the past? One of my favourite quotes is from Richard Carlson when he says "You can't have a better past....only the one you have". Alternatively some people live in the past because it's easier than facing what they're living right now, especially if their past is remembered fondly as "the good ole days".

And you don't live in the future. You live right now. Things don't mysteriously happen in the future without making choices. It's imagined. Your past activates memories, yes. And based on what you learned you might choose a different path. However the choices, the doing, the achieving is this moment.

It's time to get your head out of the clouds and live. Waiting for something to miraculously happen 'one day' won't make it so. And every moment you wait for the new job, winning the lottery, better dynamics, change in circumstance, more anything, keeps you from truly living the present in which case you're not really living at all. It's an existence where you give your personal power away to an intangible possibility with no foundation whatsoever.

Is that what you want? Some magical force which doesn't really exist to determine where your life will end up, or, to make the most of this moment in time and in some way make a difference....to you... to others?

One of my favourite movies is Pay It Forward. It's not about paying back someone....it's choosing three people right now, that you can inspire or motivate to make new choices in their lives right now.

"Just as the moon has no light of its own, but can only reflect the light of the sun, so are the past and future only pale reflections of the light, power and reality of the present." Eckhart Tolle

Best...
Donna Karlin

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