Leaving The Past In the Past

As the old year draws to a close, I've had some rather interesting insights into my life thus far. The most profound one involves many of the people I know and love from my past. I have realized it is time to come to a parting of ways. Although I hold fond memories of them, we are on very different journeys and it is time for me to let go of those connections as they are holding me back.

From the time I was a small child, I have been the sort of person to say, "I found this new and exciting place! Come see it with me!" I was always a leader. I was always happiest exploring, questioning, creating, and I wanted to bring other people along for the ride! This is much more easily done when you are a child and your friends are all young. Children are much more open to new experiences. By the time you become an adult, you have found your comfort zone. You understand how your world works (or how you want it to work). Adults are no longer interested in exploring or questioning. They have it all figured out and life is good. I have tried so hard to bring my friends with me on my present journey. The thing is, they do not want to come.

My grief has been profound. I love these people! I expected they would want to go on the journey with me. I was wrong. With each new idea that has challenged and excited me, my old friends have not been impressed or enthused. Most of them just think I'm crazy.

While this part of my journey saddens me, it is not all bad. I have found new friends--people who share my vision and are walking the same path. I am not alone. I am just no longer able to walk with my friends from the past.

I am finally beginning to understand I need to leave these friends behind. While I would love for them all to come with me, I know they are not ready to go there. They may never be ready to go there, and that is okay. I still love them and wish them a good life.

It is time for me to embrace this new journey. That requires packing my bags and walking out the door. I will not look back except to appreciate how that part of my journey grew me as a person. I will leave the past in the past and forge ahead into my new life.

In This Moment Of Now

What are you doing in this moment of now?

Are you beating yourself up for mistakes you've made? Are you wondering how you could have approached a situation differently for better results? Do you regret something you said to a friend, loved one, or business associate? Are you sorry for the opportunities you've allowed to slip through your fingers? Maybe your time is more pleasantly engaged remembering better times in the past? Regardless of the positive or negative nature, all these thoughts indicate you are living in the past.

Are you dreaming of something more? Maybe you're thinking of moving to a new location or to a new home? Maybe you're contemplating making a job change that will be a better fit and make you happier? Perhaps your future plans involve travel or getting married and starting a family. On the other side of the coin, maybe you're concerned with losing your job or your home? Maybe you foresee a future of loneliness? Regardless of direction, these thoughts put you firmly in the future.

Spending brief periods of time in the past or the future is not a bad thing, but it can be distracting and often a waste of time and energy. At best, you are remembering positive energy or making plans for where you want to go in life. At worst, you are beating yourself up or worrying about all the negative things that could happen to you. The thing is, past or future, none of these things enable you to work in your full strength and power.

When you focus in this moment of now, you are aware. You have the ability to sense and experience your surroundings with your eyes, your ears, your tongue, your nose, your hands and your heart. In that moment you can feel the unity between mind, body and spirit. You have immediate understanding of what you can do in that moment that will make you feel good and happy and whole. You know that you are alive and that it is possible to get through anything if you just focus on what step to take next.

The truly mind-boggling thing about this moment of now is that now is the one place every moment of time exists. Pretend you are in a dimension where the limitations of time are gone. There is no past, because everything is present. There is no future, because, again, everything is present. All those moments in our lives we experience in sequential order are there simultaneously in the now.

This is what makes the now so powerful. When we live in the moment, we can more easily access all that is--past, present and future. It is in this place of now we can better access Oneness.

Again I ask. What are you doing in this moment of now?

~CSE