Your future is waiting

Planning for the future is great fun. It is a lot like “window shopping” — especially for expensive clothing or exotic cars. You get the thrill and excitement of the virtual purchase without a sense of buyer’s remorse (1) at some later date. This, therefore, is the secret to a life well-lived: imagination. Live each and every day as if it were to be your last. Make peace with your God and loved ones. Expect nothing and anticipate everything, for it is just there in front of you. But, you can’t touch it because it isn’t real.

It sits only in the realm of the potential. So, then – what is real? What am I to accept as an honest appraisal of my life? The concept of “the now” (2) has gained a lot of currency in the last while. This is, undoubtedly, due to the fact that it is the truth. The past is gone and the future is illusory. I only have now to truly experience life and, once again, when I move to the future, I am again in the now.

Why curiously, do we live in so much fear if the only reality is the now? Why, at present, in this latest crisis are we so afraid of everything – even our own shadow? This is due to our perverted sense of what the now means. I think that most folks want to escape the now as quickly as possible. What lies ahead is the most important. What I could, should, may do is the actual reality. What is occurring right now is only a fleeting weigh station (3) on my road of life — the life that exists just “on the other side of the hill.” There in that mythical nirvana, that Shangri-La, (4) I will achieve fame and fortune and – this is almost guaranteed – find my true love, my one and only.

What nonsense! “It is not uncommon for people to spend their whole life waiting to start living. … Time isn’t precious at all, because it is an illusion. What you perceive as precious is not time but the one point that is out of time: the Now. That is precious indeed. The more you are focused on time — past and future — the more you miss the Now, the most precious thing there is” (5)

Did you ever ask yourself where this bitterness comes from in old people? This is the seed of its germination: false hope, devoid of positive action. They, seemingly, have it all – money, family, grandchildren – but not happiness. Then we add on eventual ill health leading to death and the package is complete. Poor me, I was dealt a “poor hand” by the cosmos, I was successful, but I wasn’t fulfilled. I wanted to be a painter, but instead, I owned a successful real estate company. Go figure, as they say? We must return to reality. I know that I am alive because I am thinking right now.

This is the fount of all wellbeing. Tomorrow is great but now is divine. The great guru and philosopher, Ram Dass, (6) leaves us with a thought: In our Western culture, although death has come out of the closet, it is still not openly experienced or discussed. Allowing dying to be so intensely present enriches both the preciousness of each moment and our detachment from it.

A closing thought: As our worldwide pandemic rages, we are seeing an interesting dichotomy. On the one hand, we see the Common Good displayed and a profound concern for our fellow man. Individual acts of kindness fill the Internet with stories of the goodness of people towards family, friends and even total strangers. On the other hand, we are seeing extreme overreaction on the part of governments and individuals. Can you imagine getting in a fist fight over toilet paper?

I understand a fight over love or personal insult or theft – but toilet paper? I think is it all based on the fear of dying. To paraphrase Morrie Swartz, “If you don’t know how to die, you don’t know how to live.” God tested humanity and he found us wanting. It is, most certainly, the moment to promote critical thinking and time. We must talk to people and attempt to allay their fears. We are not at the end of the world. This crisis is not the Black Death, (7) even though the news media would like us to believe that it is. Let us be careful, be hygienic and be smart!

To sum up: This week, we spoke about living in the now and appreciating each and every moment.

To be noted: Justice fails because victims are too kind and criminals too rich.

Just for fun: Patsy Cline – Crazy (1961)

For reflection: ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT 1979

This week please reflect on your present moment.

Every day look for something magical and beautiful

Quote: The beauty of life when you look for it will never cease to amaze you with its grandeur.

Footnotes:

1) buyer’s remorse

2) The Art of Now: Six Steps to Living in the Moment

3) In this context, a weigh station is a place that you evaluate your life cargo.

4) Shangri-La