Wednesday, May 31, 2006

MEDITATION: "Making Friends with the Present Moment"

In some ways, the most important rule I can follow is this: make friends with the present moment. After all, the present moment is all I ever have. In the entire history of the universe, there has never been a single moment when the present wasn’t all there was – wasn’t all-powerful and all-creative. No matter how hard I try (and I often try very hard), I can’t escape the present moment, and so I may as well give in and make friends with it. This is not an easy task, as I can see by simply observing people on a typical day. So many of us seem to want to be anything but friends with the present moment. We resist it, want to change it, try to escape from it or overcome it. We fight the present moment rather than accept it. It’s more our enemy than our friend. Today, I want to treat each present moment as what it is: a wondrous, surprising, and valuable gift. I want to accept the gift, not reject it. I want to get close to each moment so I can feel and understand its enormous power for good. I want to be its friend, not its enemy. If I can do this, I will see something amazing happen: each present moment will become more and more friendly with me.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ham, I've finally found your blog and will use it as a comment distraction. I am trying my hardest to love the present moment of writing comments. It is difficult, and may only be achieved by the age-old ritual of contemplating a quick list of things that could be worse (root canals, a long stretch of highway clogged with traffic and no restroom in sight, or taking an exam for a class not enrolled in). I find myself thinking of the future - the imediate future in which I will relax knowing the comments are written, or the long term future where I might find myself in such a disturbing situation that could cause me to say, "I'd rather be writing comments!"

Holly D