Monday, June 05, 2006

MEDITATION: "The Next Step"

Each of us has to take many “steps” each day. We have to make hundreds, even thousands of decisions, about what to think next, what to do next, where to go next. This task can seem overwhelming, simply because there are so many possibilities available. Deciding what our “next step” will be can seem as scary as choosing where to go in a totally dark forest. However, I have found a certain amount of peace in realizing that, actually, the choice has already been made for me: Whatever I’m doing right now is what has been chosen for me to do. The present moment is my choice. All I have to do today, and every day, is focus all of my attention on the present moment, because that is precisely the moment that has been selected for me. This doesn't mean that I shouldn't make practical plans for future moments. Certainly we all have to make decisions about what we will do next Tuesday or next month. However, those decisions, too, will be taken care of if we simply focus on this exact present moment, right now. If a decision must be made about next Tuesday, I should pay complete attention to it, right now, and then I will see that the decision, in a sense, makes itself. By concentrating on the present moment that has been given to me, I will see my next step unfold as easily as the next moment does.

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