The Power of Now

byexgrosteve

1.4K followers

6 years ago

Sorry, I borrowed Eckhart Tolle's book title for this post. It's a great read by the way if you haven't read it. Tolle presents a variety of spiritual traditions . . . Buddhism, Mysticism, Jesus Christ, Zen and worked them to describe a belief system based on living in the present moment. He shares his belief that individuals need to be aware of their "present moment" rather than worrying about the past or what the future may or may not hold.

This is something I've been working at for years. Note the emphasis. I'm still not there and only last night when I woke at 3:00 am I was thinking about something that I won't know the answer to until Friday. I let the thought drift around for all of two-minutes, told my mind to be quiet and went back to sleep. There was simply no value in debating what may or may not be.

And then there's the watch thing. Well, I didn't make it a thing, my family did when I decided I didn't need to wear one a couple of years ago. My argument is simple. The time I have is right now, this is the moment. If an outside source wants my time, I will happily give it and if they need a time to share my time, I can set an alert on my computer or phone; simple, no need to clock watch and especially because that is distracting. We all know how time has a way with illusion too, especially when we are waiting for something.

Is it time yet?

No!

Is it time yet?

No, you asked that two-minutes ago!

Here's something cool. But don't share with my family. They all have at least one watch and nobody wears one. Yes, they do have phones but I've conducted a few undercover studies and they are not using them to look at the time unless somebody asks. Slowly, they are getting into the habit of setting reminders where they must and getting on with life the rest of the time.

In a brief conversation with WA member Pilot Joe yesterday, we briefly chatted about Time Management and how we both use Google Apps to keep track of what we need to do and if necessary, when; and, it's FREE.

Now to quote from an Aussie friend, "head down, bum up". Meaning get on with what you need to do to build your success; enjoy the journey and all the good, bad and indifferent it throws at you. Celebrate each and every win because they are a gift and you will get plenty of those if you stay in the present.

Oh, I just got a reminder. Better go.

Steve