Master of the Moment

I am writing this on a Friday night after finishing my work for the week. It is a good and relaxing feeling to have the whole weekend ahead. And I'm getting a head start by writing my blog article now.

You usually begin the week with apprehension on a Sunday evening, bracing yourself for another busy Monday with all the bustle, mini crises, false alarms and emergencies that will inevitably pepper the week. But you always emerge at the end of it feeling quite alright. It's not that bad after all. And there goes another work week.

No problem is as big as they initially appear to be.  Once you are willing to stick your toe into it, the water is not too cold nor too hot for you. You'll be able to adapt. Just take one step at a time. Take one do-able step and imagine that's all you need to do. And when it is done, you'll be buoyed and the momentum will carry you forward to the next doable step. That's how you progress--like what the Chinese say about the journey of 10,000 miles.

It is like this blog article too. I always click the New Post button not knowing what I'm supposed to write. But I'm always able to write one sentence. That will bring me to the next one and so on. Without looking too far ahead, things become more manageable. You are all right, right now and you can certainly do that one thing, right now. 

That is also the philosophy behind mindfulness. Be aware of what you are experiencing at this very moment. Acknowledge it, and the next moment comes. There is no tension, no anticipation nor reflection. It is just pure awareness--taking in each moment like a frame from a movie reel. All drama ceases to exist. Life has no crises, only different moments, each on its own is what it is--a quantum of experience, neither good nor bad.

All judgement comes in retrospect. It is a blessing and curse that we are able to recollect the past and anticipate the future. A blessing because it is how humans progress--learning from our past experiences and using them to tackle the future. A curse because we can now compare, between good times and bad ones, between ourselves and others and start fearing for threats that are unlikely to happen.

We begin to live not in the moment but jump back and forth between the past and the future. That's the recipe for an unhappy life. The entire lesson of the past can be learned in the present moment--if you are aware of it in its entirety. 

Now pay attention: this moment is the sum of your past and the seed of your future. Take it as sweetly as you possibly can. If you can master the moment, you have nothing to fear in life, because no matter how bad it is, it is just this moment, and that's all there is, and it is all that matters for the moment.