Thursday, January 12, 2017

In the Moment

"You can’t change yesterday, but you can ruin today by worrying about tomorrow." Unknown

Many times a client has come to my office with a "serious issue."

So, as is my habit, I'll sit and listen for a while, trying to figure out what the issue is. Because generally the person isn't talking about something that's going on today. Not about anything tangible. They're either far off in the future, worrying about how they'll find a job. Or go to school. Or pay a bill.

Or, they're dwelling in the past, wondering why they did something stupid. Or still reacting to some wrong that was done to them long ago.

When I ask them about right now, what's going on right now, they look at me curiously. They look at me like I'm stupid because they just told me what was going on. At least in their mind, they did.

But, when I point out that things are okay right now, this moment, they get the point.

One of the things that mindfulness teaches us is to be in this moment, without judgement, and with acceptance.

Things are okay at this moment. It's when we start dwelling in the past or wandering into the future that we get into trouble today.