Being Here Now

It’s 36 degrees outside on this winter day and it’s still dark outside. I’m sitting here in my living room at 5:20 am listening to meditation music, enjoying a warm fire and a hot cup of coffee in my cozy robe and lambswool slippers. My dog and cat are snuggled up next to me in perfect bliss. What could be more perfect?

My mind tries to take me somewhere else, to a place of fixating on the next task, goal or desire to be someplace else, or feel something else, or do something different. This is where my mind goes if I’m not practicing presence to stay right here in now. This is a common condition of the human mind in our fast paced, commercialized, social media filled world.

I’m aware of the time. I need to get ready for work soon. What will I wear? What do I need to get done today? Should I go to yoga on Sunday? I need to feed the dog. I should try to get to work early. Gosh, Grandma’s 100th birthday party is only a couple weeks away and I have a lot to do. I need to get this writing assignment done by Tuesday. Am I doing the assignment right? What if I’m a terrible writer?

Funny. Not funny. I laugh at my mind racing and how I am almost always focusing on the future or the past. I spend many hours per week practicing presence in an effort to recognize the many gifts right in front of me at every moment. I have a reverence for life and all the experiences on the path and it is still a continual chore to stay right here, right now.

According to spiritual teacher, Eckart Tolle, “To most people the present moment almost doesn’t exist because what they are really interested in is the next moment or the one after that. So, they live always toward the future, and unconsciously regard the next moment, the next point in the future they need to get to as more important than this moment…. They don’t recognize that the future has no existence except as a thought form.”

Our life consists entirely of the present moment. We can remember the past or think about the future but we can only think about it now. Somehow we live as if the present moment is an obstacle and we need to overcome it in order to get to some better point that never arrives. This adds to our human struggle and makes life difficult. I’m reminded of one of my favorite quotes, “The chief source of unhappiness is our search for happiness.” Searching as if there is nothing right here.

When I was growing up, my mom would always say, “Be here now”, and I didn’t understand what she meant. I thought, “How can I be anywhere else? Of course I’m here now. Duh.” I don’t remember when I was actually here now. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I was able to hear the constant chatter of my mind and develop the understanding that I wasn’t here now. It wasn’t until mid-life that I understood I was thinking about or working toward getting to someplace else – physically, emotionally, spiritually. And, it wasn’t until then that I began my attempts to be still to fully live in each moment.

Here I am in my home, in my cozy robe and slippers with my not-so-hot cup of coffee. My dog is snoring next to me while I write. This present moment really is beautiful and as I wonder what time it is and think about what I have to do today, I quietly say to myself, “Be here now.”