Where’s the Past in the Present?
When we talk about living in the present we aren’t talking about something we do. It is an experience and an expression of that experience. This life is experienced as past, present, and future with great purpose. The past consists of that which you need to heal. So, if you are having challenges in the present they come from the past. Therefore, you are not living in the present at those times of challenge. When you project into the future, you are taking from the past to define the future. Consequently, you are skipping over the present.
As you go through the day there will be challenges, expectations, and assumptions: those are signs that the past is still active. If you find yourself judging (in any way), that is a sign that the past is still active. If you find yourself feeling hurt, angry, lonely, fearful of loss, guilty, etc., then the past is in the present.
In the course of the day, you may find yourself worrying about the future. You may find yourself wondering if you have done enough for your children. You may find yourself wondering if you will grow old alone. You may find yourself wondering if your health will fail. You may find yourself thinking about the future only in ways that you know because of the past. The future, however, has yet to be told. Your fear of the unknown coerces you into projecting your past into the future. If you did not have a fear of the unknown you would not wonder, worry, or fear the future.
When you are living in the present you don’t have to forget the past nor do you have to pretend there is no future. When you are living in the present, you in a style of life mastery or enlightenment where you have mastering the past challenges, transcending those challenges, or moving into a state of enlightenment in some other way. You are present. You are aware of your breath. You are aware of everything taking place now without an attachment to its meaning or the meaning it has to you as a result of your past. You aren’t worried about the future. And yet, you live today knowing that if you are aware of all of life around you and are honoring all of life around you, that you are making a better place for your children’s children’s children. You are not living in the present with an absence of honoring. Quite the contrary, it is the very honoring of every plant, every animal, every incident, of Mother Earth and of Spirit/God, and of all that is, that is integral to your awareness of being present in life and with life. And most importantly, living in the present is in the honoring of your own Self — that part of you that, in its purity, is aching for you to move beyond your fears to find truth and freedom. It is on the journey toward truth that you find yourself living present and in the present. It is the outcome of the healing.
To think that you are to ignore the past, ignore the pain, and ignore what was, is to live chained to the past. Because in order to avoid that past, you must keep the past alive in the back of your mind somewhere so you are sure to avoid it! And as long as you are doing that you cannot be present.
Do not try to push down, forget, or move beyond something by severing or ignoring. It only creates greater illusion by keeping you anchored to what was and not allowing you the freedom to feel what is. The challenges of this life (that which makes up the past) are not here to destroy you. They are in this life for you to move through them, transcend them, master them. It is the mastery of the challenges that allows you to unveil the truth of who you are. That truth, by design, lives in the present. In conclusion, the more you live in your truth and know the truth of who and what you are, the more you are living in the present and the more present your true self is. Further, when living in the present, the unconditional love and acceptance of self is experienced and is, then, also offered to all.
May each and every one of you have a day filled with an acceptance of your challenges, knowing of your Self, and awareness of each breath you take. May you be present in your life.
