Embrace the Now!
Sometimes we fool ourselves into believing we have spent our time well because we have completed a job, but the question is was the job worthwhile and did it add joy and growth? We live in a task orientated world where we place our sense of worthiness on completion and this in itself is the achievement. Of course there is a place for planning, but do we take enough time to allow things to happen organically and enjoy the unknown? Planning and careful consideration of every detail can be an attempt to control and therefore fuelled by fear. What if you could just go with the flow and the unknown with an open attitude of learning and development from whatever happens?
For me, some of the best memories and life changing shifts in my mindset have occurred on the days I just allowed things to happen and went with my gut instinct. Let’s not confuse these moments with being lazy, which is a modern day condemnation of unconstructed time. Just because our activities have not been scheduled to within every millisecond does not mean they are not valuable.
Planning for your future is necessary, but how many times have you just happened to be in the right place or met the right person to bring new challenging opportunities into your life. We are manifesting all of the time as our thoughts have an energetic frequency that is constantly being transmitted out to the universe. If we spent more time focusing on our emotional state and the energy we are resonating and our ability to enjoy what is happening now, the future would be more rewarding and in keeping with our core beliefs and values.
For those of us who have children, how much of their time is scheduled with classes and activities? And ask yourself was your childhood crammed with so many events? Or did you have freedom to explore and learn without such prescribed time slots? How much of that free time gave rise to creativity and contributed to skills and qualities that support you now? Do we pass on our fear of lack of time to our children and create even further stress and pressure to do well and constantly achieve without question or evaluation of what we are gaining or how much of our time is fulfilling? Does this promote our contentment and ultimately our overall wellbeing?
Is it possible to gain true enlightenment and live a purposeful life by purely planning and cramming your life with what we call life achievements without thought of what you are truly gaining? Without stepping back and questioning the real reason? Will this process of action and way of thinking culminate in the happiness you believe exists at the destination you are so focussed on reaching?
It seems to me a high proportion of us living in the 21st century do not question the hamster wheel of life and put life on hold while we believe it will all be ok when we have completed the next step or we can relax and enjoy life once we have achieved the next outcome.
While outcomes are crucial for direction and achievement if we are not enjoying the road we tread, will we know when or how to enjoy the moment we are successful? The tendency can be to immediately move on to the next outcome with our time sensitive cram it all in mentality. If there is no time for reflection, relaxation and appreciation I begin to question the reason and validity of the process as there appears to be an absence of any joy.
I am not sure where we learnt gaining credibility and achievement demanded a vacuous environment driven by a state of seriousness and continuous hard toil. There is definitely a badge of honour for the person who spends the most hours and least sleep in their endeavour to climb the preverbal career ladder. Life balance has veered out of control and many home lives are less than rewarding as a result.
The other unhelpful lesson the western world has adopted is to accredit immeasurable value to logical thinking and academic achievement to the detriment of being aware and in touch with our feelings. How can any of us be truly successful as a fully functioning healthy well balanced human being without considering what is important in our heart and trusting in our gut instinct?
In fact the lack of emotional investment attached to our outcomes is the very reason for our constant quest for betterment. Any achievement is empty if it lacks any emotional integrity and purpose. We are just left feeling flat once the short lived glory of our last triumph has passed. Ask yourself are the actions I am taking in alignment with my purpose and do they feel right for me? Only you can answer these questions. You can listen to advice and take on board opinions, but only you know what is right for you by ensuring you are in touch with your core values and beliefs that uphold your purpose. Your very reason for getting up each day.
It is not easy to buck the trend and ignore the distracting and compelling messages we are constantly bombarded with via the media, but maybe now is the time to question the quality of your life experience. Do you spend more time doing than being? When was the last time you gave yourself an encouraging word or two and sat back to admire your own creation?
If you want to live more in the now and use the power of what is to manifest a more fulfilled and purposeful life perhaps you could consider the following questions. As you do take a few deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth and allow the answers just to come, trust that you have the answers and they will surface:
- If I start to panic/worry about not having enough time what am I trying to achieve in a positive way?
- Is this behaviour ever going to achieve the positive I am seeking?
- What alternative behaviour would achieve this positive outcome and allow me to let go of my worry/panic now?
- Do you remember a time when you have experienced that behaviour?
- What were you believing about yourself at the time?
- How much easier would it be if you just took on that behaviour and those beliefs as a way of being?
- What if you could act as if this new behaviour and the resulting beliefs were absolutely true, how easy would it be to do that?
- What if theses new behaviours and supporting beliefs were reinforced with your own inner dialogue that encouraged you as if you were your own best friend!
Now that you have some answers visualise yourself as if you are looking through your own eyes, hearing through your own ears and feeling what is happening with that positive behaviour, encouraging internal dialogue and supporting beliefs. How would you look, sound and feel? How would you be standing/sitting? How deep would you be breathing? Where in your body do you feel that new sense of calm, peace and joy?
Remember in the Now there are no issues and there is access to true creativity to manifest a nurturing, supportive and loving inner self that can deal effectively with whatever challenges come your way.
Karen Oliver
07782 381855/01932 403780
