The big reason the present moment matters
Why be here in this moment? Sometimes this moment totally blows. Why would I want to “be there” for that kind of garbage?
There is a lot of talk these days about present moment awareness. It’s advertised as the key to everything — and maybe it is.
But the question I come up against is: why? Why be here in this moment? Sometimes this moment totally blows. Sometimes there is significant physical and emotional pain. There is war and suffering and loneliness. Why the hell would I want to “be there” for that kind of garbage?
Here’s why.
Because the present moment is the only moment in which we have any power.
Now is when we can impact the future. Now is when we can let go of what no longer serves us from our past. Now is when we can shift our own thinking. Now is when you can influence the path of your life.
If we are in the present moment, it’s the only chance we get to actually deal with that pain and transform it.
We might not be able to end the physical pain or the emotional pain or the external circumstances that plague us. But what we can do — is choose a different relationship with it all.
That is something we can only do now. We can stop running away from ourselves and our pain. We can turn towards it, face it, and decide where to go from there.
That is incredibly powerful.
And then there is this crummy reality: we might not get later. No one ever promised us a future. This is really all we’ve got.
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and freedom.”
- Viktor Frankl
Now is when we have all the influence. Our growth and our freedom, it’s all right now.
So let’s be here for it.
