“You can only be where you are. You can’t be where you are not!” This is a phrase I use often when working with clients who struggle to maintain focus on living as fully as possible in the present moment. It is a phrase I use with myself when I venture too far outside the now.
Sadness tends to harass us when we spend too much time ruminating over past losses or failures or missed opportunities. Changing the past is impossible. As much as we might wish to alter events already completed, we cannot. We must learn to be where we are, as fully as possible in this moment.
Anxiety becomes our constant companion when we spend time worrying and fretting about the future! Tomorrow is simply a promise – a possibility of things that might come. There are no guarantees that we will step into the arena of the future. Making plans makes sense. We must look ahead with hope; however, focusing too much energy on a day not promised can drain today of its power.
We can only be where we are. We can’t be where we are not! I wonder what might happen if we were able to increase our ability to focus time, effort and energy where we are . . . right now . . . in this moment? What might we see or think or feel? Who might we help? What answer might emerge in a moment of mindfulness? What insight might surface?
You can only be where you are. You can’t be where you are not! Our challenge is to live in the now . . . period!
Peace!
Mark E. Hundley
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