Rapt attention, as I mentioned in an earlier essay, surpasses in value every other character trait we may possess.\u00a0 The decision to honor our fellow travelers with devoted attention, in regard to their every word, their loud as well as their quiet behavior, their very presence in our lives regardless of what the expression is; is a gift beyond measure.\u00a0 This idea may feel suffocating, when first considered.\u00a0 However, it offers any one who embraces it freedom at a very deep level.\u00a0 Freedom.\u00a0 No other decision about life\u2019s journey and our responses to any one we will ever encounter\u00a0 on our journey ever needs to be made.\u00a0 Not ever.<\/b><\/p>\n
I\u2019m of course not sure how this suggestion for how to \u201csee\u201d your life registers with you.\u00a0 It sounds extreme. I know.\u00a0 But I have grown extremely fond of it.\u00a0 It has reduced the stress in my life immeasurably.\u00a0 For decades, my mind was consumed with thoughts, things, responses, judgments, opinions, negativities of every persuasion that I attached to whom or whatever was just possibly<\/i> \u201cout there.\u201d\u00a0 The busyness of my mind felt debilitating.\u00a0 And exhausting.\u00a0 Being told I didn\u2019t need to live that way any more was suspect.\u00a0 Being attentive to \u201cthis moment\u2019s universe,\u201d seemed like an impossible, and rather uninteresting way to live.\u00a0 My mind was out there<\/i><\/b>, mixing it up with who ever I conjured up, no matter what was right here in front of me.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
And then one day, as the result of studying A Course in Miracles,<\/i><\/b> I woke up to the Truth that there is no out there.<\/b>\u00a0 I was gobsmacked.\u00a0 Never was there an \u201cout there,\u201d\u00a0 the course taught.\u00a0 What we see, \u201cout there,\u201d is what we have projected from our own mind.\u00a0 Never more.\u00a0 Never less.\u00a0 Experiencing only what is right here and now before me, no matter how inconsequential it may seem to be, is a God sent gift.\u00a0 And I mean that literally.<\/p>\n
Some of you have no doubt lived in the moment<\/i> for years.\u00a0 Some spiritual philosophies teach this.\u00a0 I tip my hat to you.\u00a0 Practice, constant, vigilant practice, was necessary for me to fully embrace that nothing but NOW <\/b>existed and then learn how to live here<\/i><\/b>.\u00a0 Only here and now.<\/i><\/b>\u00a0 I still stumble occasionally.\u00a0 Some days many times, but the pay off each time I do embrace the present moment<\/i><\/b> is sweet. \u00a0It feels like a comforter around my shoulders on a cool evening.\u00a0 It relieves me of even a hint of anxiety.\u00a0 I trust that the God of my understanding is paying me a visit within every moment of my life and I\u2019ll miss His \u201ccall\u201d if my mind is on the past or guessing about some future event.\u00a0 Or more than likely, passing judgment on \u201cthe who\u201d of the past or projected future.<\/p>\n
Giving up our reliance on the past to define the present is a must if we ever want to experience the peace that we are promised when we stay saddled in the comfort of now.\u00a0 I have decided that I am too old to relish conflict.\u00a0 In a very unhealthy way I used to thrive on it.\u00a0 It frightened me but it also made me feel alive.\u00a0 Now it literally scares me.\u00a0 There is only one way to avoid being frightened.\u00a0 I must step into this moment and cherish it.\u00a0 This is an assignment I can happily accept.<\/p>\n
I have made a case for living here and now.\u00a0 I hope you can see that. \u00a0What’s your choice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rapt attention, as I mentioned in an earlier essay, surpasses in value every other character trait we may possess.\u00a0 The decision to honor our fellow travelers with devoted attention, in regard to their every word, their loud as well as their quiet behavior, their very presence in our lives regardless of what the expression is; […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n