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.

DEATH

Death is simply the final life experience.

So many people seem to be afraid of death. I am not. At least, I do not think or feel that I am. Maybe when my time draws near, I will think or feel differently. I doubt it.

What are people afraid of? No doubt, there are many different answers to this question. One common theme that almost certainly underlies everyone's fear is "fear of the unknown." No one has ever come back from the other side, so we really do not have any firsthand reports to rely on. (I discount all of the reports about people who come back from near-death and tell their stories. The mind can do some pretty strange things when it experiences extreme stress, and all those stories involve some level of extreme stress.)

To the best of my knowledge, there are two common beliefs about the afterlife. The first common belief rejects any possibility of an afterlife. Do not confuse this state with darkness or some other possibly scary experience. These people believe, or at least claim to believe, that there is nothing after death. Life simply stops. There is no consciousness, no unconsciousness, no darkness, NOTHING. Once it happens, you will not experience any discomfort according to this belief. You will not experience anything because you will simply cease to be. I do not fear "nothing." I do not even fear "NOTHING." Add an exclamation point and make that "NOTHING!" and I still do not fear it. Neither should you.

Of course, I doubt whether these people really believe this. If "there are no atheists in a foxhole," there are probably few if any real atheists. My guess is that most people upon facing death as an imminent experience start to believe, if they do not already believe, in an afterlife.

I am not familiar with every religion. In fact, I have limited knowledge of any religion other than my own. From my intensive knowledge of my religion as well as what I know of other religions, I am convinced that the afterlife if it exists (and I am convinced that it does) is a better place than the one we live in.

If there is a Creator (and I am convinced about that as well), then He created us so that we can experience something really good. Of course, there are some good experiences in this life. Based on my own personal experiences as well as what we all read in the newspapers and see on television, there are a whole lot more really bad experiences in this life. I know a few people who seem to have lived a "charmed life" in which nearly everything seems to have gone in their favor. I have no doubt that I simply do not know about the bad that they have experienced. Perhaps I am too jaded, but I have experienced and observed all too much suffering in this world. If the Creator created us to experience something really good, He must have that something ready for us to experience someplace else. That someplace else, to the best of my knowledge, is the afterlife.

The next world is better than this one, of this I am certain. While I am not rushing to get there, I am not afraid of getting there either. Neither should you.

What can we do in the interim? If this life is as bad as it seems to be to me, and even if it is not, I believe that there is only one logical and emotionally sound approach to this life. Help alleviate the suffering of other people so that they can live a better, more satisfying life. Doing so will make my life, your life, and their lives a little easier to bear. It may also make opening the gates to the afterlife a whole lot easier.