24. Living in the Now

Why is it that we are so obsessed with finding love, keeping love or getting it back?

Of course, love feels wonderful. For example, Ted meets Poppy. For the first time he has found someone who doesn’t want to change him (yet). And he doesn’t want to change her. “Poppy, you are my princess! You are perfect just as you are!” When Ted is in Princess Poppy’s arms, he wants nothing else; he wants to be nowhere else.

Is it that Poppy is so wonderful? Obviously! And it is also this: for the first time in his life Ted is totally happy with the present moment. For thirty years he has been consumed by the belief that “I should be better. I should be richer, smarter, taller. Once I get this, once I become that, I’ll be okay.” But when he is with Poppy, everything is perfect.

Love is seeing the best in ourselves reflected. Love is a window onto the beauty of humanity. And love is a window into the present moment.

When Ted has that rush of joy, that boundless, breathless energy that fills his being, he thinks it’s POPPY. His friends think he is on DRUGS. It is actually Ted embracing the PRESENT MOMENT.

When you fall in love, you have no resistance. You are no longer trying to fix anything or change anyone. You are not judging, hiding or wishing you were any place else. You become a pure channel for universal energy.

You Have No Future!

Self-help gurus and Zen Buddhists tell us to live in the present, but does it matter? It matters. Because when you are happy, enthusiastic, absorbed, in love, you plug into the power of the Universe. When you are dissatisfied, distracted and depressed, you are unplugged – and when you are unplugged, you are powerless to create anything better.

Your key to a better life is to feel good now. Not next week, not when you pay off the apartment, not when peace is declared in the Middle East. Every moment that you spend regretting the past or fearing the future is an affirmation that life is lousy – and so you get more of “lousy”.

Here’s another reason to live in the present: the future doesn’t exist. You have no future! Of course, we pretend it does. We pretend that time is like a piece of string where the past is on one end, the future is on the other end, and the present is in the middle. Not so.

All we have is an eternally unfolding present moment. The only time you will ever meet the future is when it becomes NOW. And when the future is now, it is not the future.

Why even talk about this? Because it explains why some people who imagine a wonderful future stay stuck in a crappy present. There is no value in waiting for something that doesn’t exist. It is useless telling yourself “I WILL BE rich, I WILL BE happy, I WILL BE successful.” When your mind is in the future you are spinning your wheels.

Your power is in the present: “I AM rich. I AM happy. I AM successful.” What did God say to Moses? “I AM that I AM.” It’s no coincidence. God gets it. The two most powerful words in the Universe are, “I AM”.

Some people live their life like they are stranded in a wasteland: “One day I’ll find my way out of this hell and my life will start.” No! You escape by gathering happy thoughts NOW. How so? Because problems exist in the future. Unless you are having a heart attack or being eaten by a bear, your present moment is usually fine. It is the imaginary future that drives you nuts: “What will happen if? How will I survive if? What will other people say?”

You are perfectly designed to handle present moments. You conquer worry by dragging your mind back to the present. You remind yourself, “Right this second I have everything I need. I choose to enjoy THIS moment.” Every second that you live in the present moment is an affirmation that life is good – and that “feeling goodness” showers more goodness on you.

Your life will work to the extent that you can say:

• there is nothing I need other than this moment
• there is no one I need to impress and no one I need to become
• I am what I am
• I have everything I need to be happy.