Sunday 13 January 2008

Year 2, day 12 - being present / the power of now / living in the day etc etc, sigh.

I'm back in England after my african excursions. I was over tired on the plane as I wrote goals and to do lists for the coming quarter, and just felt so out of my depth at the prospect of it all.

But somehow I got to a space of real clarity - I could just 'be' with the mountain of work that needs to be done.

Balance will be integral to this year being everything I want it to be. The little things that drag me out of the zone simply have to go. So I am entering an eight week booze sabbatical as of today... dear oh dear. My mission over these next few months is to remain totally at peace with wherever I may be right now.

I keep having so many realisations around what it is to be 'present' at the moment. I get that excellence is just the same as being present. When I let go of all desires and attachments and all the meaningless ambitions, I can just excel at being me, right here, right now. And I get that who that person is, is exactly a result of what I was doing yesterday, or a minute ago. And who I am being right now is the best possible investment in the future I can possibly make. What I do right now is the producer of who I will have become in 5 minutes time, or in one hour or 10 years. It's all about right now. There is nothing else! Nothing else even exists!

I think this is one of the underlying messages in Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, when the treasure turns out to be in the shepherd's andalusian hills where his journey started - it was right with him, all along, in the present moment - he always had it, he just needed to realise it.

The treasure is right here, right now. It's the present.

So I choose to be here, and I get that all there actually is, is the here and now.

So why do I always feel as if there's somewhere to get to, something to 'make happen'?

There's nowhere to get to, no need to 'make it'.

But it's a neat trick ingraining that in our psyche. Taking time out surely helps, but as life speeds up again, it's a bigger task to stay unattached, in the day and free.

But I know at least I have a chance this time. Solid foundations are being built.

I'm rambling - but if we can't ramble on our blogs, where can we?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Solid foundations for a better future...I like that.

B said...

I think so many people misunderstand being present as not doing anything/not working towards something... just sitting around. However, it is anything but that. Of course, we are working towards ambitions, etc. But yes, as you point out with The Alchemist, the treasure is right here, right now. And absolutely... it is much more challenging to stay unattached and free in the moment, versus rushing towards ambitions. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this... I needed it today!