HERE AND NOW

Where I was yesterday or where I will be tomorrow is much less important than where I am here and now!

Have you ever met a person who seems to live in the past? Some of these people live in a glorious past in which their great achievements made them the center of attention. Others live in a dismal past in which they were totally mistreated by life. Does the world owe you something because you caught the winning football in the championship game in high school or college? Does the world owe you something because your father, or your mother, or both of your parents, or anyone else abused you as a child? Maybe, but do not hold your breath waiting for the world to pay what it owes you.

Have you ever met a person who lives in the future? Some of these people live in a glorious future in which they will be on top of the world. Others live in a dismal future which withholds from them everything that they truly deserve. Should the world treat you special now because one day you will win the lottery? Should the world treat you special now because one day it will withhold what you truly deserve? Maybe, but... you get the point.

We can learn from the past and we can plan for the future. We can LIVE in the "here and now." At any given moment I need to know: Where am I here and now? The answer to this important question includes consideration of where I came from. It also includes consideration of where I want to be in the future. To the greatest extent possible, however, it focuses on right here and right now. Where am I right here and right now, and how does this compare to where I want to be right here and right now?

Of course, the "here and now" is not a static point. It keeps rolling ahead. No matter what we do, it cannot roll backward. Nor can it stop rolling ahead. Because of this, consideration of where I am going "here and now" is much more important than consideration of where I came from "here and now."

Once we understand the primary importance of the here and now, two great burdens are lifted off our shoulders. The pack of troubles from my past becomes much lighter because I can ignore all past troubles that no longer directly affect the here and now. The pack of troubles that I will experience in the future also becomes much lighter since most of them do not directly affect the here and now.

Where am I now? Where do I want to go now? What do I need to do now to get to where I want to be now? Focus on these questions and act on them here and now, and life will become a much less confusing and oppressive experience.