How to Appreciate the Present Moment
55I can remember taking my son back home when he was born. I had to leave him in the hospital for a few days to have his body temperature stabilize.
Oh I had such great expectations of motherhood. I bought all cotton diapers determined that I will be "eco friendly"...This lasted two days.
I was in the process of writing my dissertation. I thought, well, I have the computer at home, I only have a couple of more experiments to do, it will be a breeze.
It was bliss. I loved taking care of him. I almost always put my head on his heart when he slept. He slept so soundly. There was only one problem, he slept soundly for an hour or two and then he would wake up again. Because of lack of sleep, my head was empty and there was nothing I could write about. I would read the sentences I wrote and would be incredulous that I even wrote it.
I had to make one of the hardest decisions in my life. To either take him home to the Philippines for my family to take care of him while I finish my doctorate, or we can both go home together to the Philippines and have my family take care of both of us. I chose the first one.
That was eighteen years ago. Today we were talking about a girl. How does he determine whether he wants her from the ego's standpoint or from the heart. The answer was not easy.
If it is from the heart then he would be happy for the girl regardless of whether she is with him or not, as long as the girl is happy. If it is from the ego, he would want to possess the girl and would be very unhappy if she chose someone else, and in this case, she had many other boys to choose from. She happens to be the most popular girl in school.
Taking my son back to the Philippines was truly a yesterday,but even my going to the supermarket this afternoon to get his favorite dessert, is also a yesterday. It is done,in the past.
The NOW is when the past, present and future converge.
We can not undo the past. No one can. And yet for the majority of us, we hang on to it. The past hurts,the past victories. We are almost always trapped by it.
If we could only see that NOW is when we have the power to create, to be fully in the NOW is the only objective of our life, and that our future is created in the NOW, we would always welcome the saying 'Say Goodbye to Yesterday' even if it happened only a few minutes back.
In this moment lies all the power you can handle.
© 2009 by Melinda M. Sorensson
CommentsLoading...
Thanks, James, for stopping by.
I like that reminder by Jesus. Thank you for that.
Oh, and I love that line in your song!! So true!!
I am sorry I have not been here at hubpages that much this past month so I have not gone to any of the hubs lately.
I know what you mean "Today" is the first the of the rest of our life.Live it to the fullest.Take some time for personal reflection everyday.
Your future depends on what you do from this day forward.
If the past happens to intersect with the future wheather it is hoped for or not is something we may not be able to control.
We aren't perfect,and we should learn from our mistakes or other peoples mistake and take them in stride,
The future we hope for will only have a chance of happening if,remain open to it and be work for a positive outcome.
The past, the present and the future converge in the present moment. We can bring back the past at will, by memory, in the present moment. Hence, the past becomes the present.
We can create the future, in the present moment. This is why there is a whole industry on visualization.
The future is fluid and dynamic. We can influence it.
You are familiar with "How to Know God" by Deepak Chopra?
Please take a look. It is quite interesting.
Thanks.
Welcome Back!
Nice hub! True that people tend to hang on to the past sometimes. It is easy to say that let it go. We cannot change our past. Without the past, I won't be the person Of me now:) Yes, we need to appreciate the present!
Thank you Tim-tim. We can not change the past, that is so true. We have to honor the past, bless it and then be in the present moment.
I have been wondering for a few moments since you write:
"We can not undo the past. No one can."
How about our (present!) beliefs with roots in the past?
When our beliefs change,...
Dear Hans,
Thank you for dropping by.
The past as a memory in our brain is like a physical ditch. The deeper the ditch the faster we remember. This where our deeply ingrained programming come from
If we want to change any core belief in the present, with roots in the past, we have to change our reaction to something in the present in the complete reverse of what we would have done in the past.
Erase and replace, and keep on erasing and replacing.
Some core beliefs we have to work harder at. Most of the times it is buried so deep we do not even know it is there consciously.
warm regards,
Melinda
This was good to read right now since my mother died about 2 months ago. I know that grief takes time but at the same time I must look ahead. Today is bright and sunny and my loving husband is by my side. Will concentrate on that.
Oh,yes, I was talking to someone this morning about the process of letting go.
Peggy, we really only have NOW. Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment.
Msorensson, Insightful & Beautiful!
"If we could only see that NOW is when we have the power to create, to be fully in the NOW is the only objective of our life, and that our future is created in the NOW, we would always welcome the saying 'Say Goodbye to Yesterday' even if it happened only a few minutes back.
In this moment lies all the power you can handle." Again Beautiful! Thank you for sharing, In His Love, Peace & Blessings!
Thank you, DeborrahK, Much appreciated and wishing you many blessings.
I really like this Hub and will bookmark it for future reference - and to come back to the vids again.Thanks.
Love and peace
Tony
Very powerful - we really do need to concentrate more on the 'power of now' - thanks for this reminder!
Thank you, Tony, synchronicities happen more often when you are in the NOW..
Hello, Shalini,
Thanks for dropping by and leaving your comment.
Very nice Melinda!
You are the sweetest. Thank you, Micky. Appreciate this moment. We only have now!!
This moment I stood to choose my future,
Today I'll write a book of what the day did bring.
This moment I took a look at what a joy it brings.
To hold my choices dear to me, and remember all I did.
But what I hear in my ears is that God knew it all before my world begain.
He made a plan to easy my worring mind.
So I place my todays and tommorows in his hand to finish what I thought I planned.(C)7/21/2010Sharon Smith
God Bless You Melinda
I wrote this for you!
Peace!
Sharon Smith
Wow..Thank you, Sharon. Many blessings to a generous heart and a peaceful soul. Much love, Melinda
The Past is the textbook of tyrants; the Future the Bible of the Free. Those who are solely governed by the Past stand like Lot's wife, crystallized in the act of looking backward, and forever incapable of looking before. ~Herman Melville, White Jacket
So many good points you make Melinda.
Wow, what a great quote, Billy. I am glad you came and left a comment. Thanks!!
This is a good hub. the power of now is really did good things on me. because of this new attitude with the help of the Lord I healed myself. What a coincidence that I'm planning to write a hub about this. by the way i just realized you are my kababayan you know what i mean. Im Toronto based.
Hi, Hopmoney :-)
This is the message I received today so I will share it here:
"Let go of what has passed. Let go of what may come. Let go of what is happening now. Don't try to figure anything out. Don't try to make anything happen. Relax, right now, and rest." ~Tilopa
Enjoying each moment causes enjoyment of life. great hub
Thank you E. Welch. Congratulations on your new grandbaby!
I don't believe that all things happen for a reason as we humans cause so much we should not but I do believe all things that happen have a reason... living in the present moment! Peace :)
There is only this moment. We choose it. We are it. We cause it, katie.
Thank you. hug, Melinda
Excellent advice, but hard to follow in today's fast paced, stressful world. Sometimes when things get too much, I just stop whatever I am doing for a few seconds. Then I try to listen for a bird singing or find a squirrel to watch out the window. If that's not possible, there is always something of beauty to focus on nearby. It helps!
What a great technique. It works, Angela. Thank you!!
msorensson - I love this hub, such beauty and wisdom; you are very insightful. Your way with words seems to flow in harmony with your spirit and the message of living in the moment. Awesome job.
Sage
Thank you, so kind of you, Sage. Your visit and your comment is much appreciated.
You did a wonderful job in writting this Hub! Always be blessed!!! Much love.. Looking forward in seeing you at my Hubs. Be Blessed!!!!!!!!!
Thank you, drpastorcarlotta!!
Much appreciated.
Wow..you are a wonderful writer. I was wandering the hub pages as I am feeling poor (money....lol) and this felt insightful......thank you....
Thank you nature47friend
I was actually analyzing that statement for a friend the other night.."I am feeling poor.."...It is such a bold statement. I love that you can write it...Truth is power..material prosperity in only one aspect of richness..You are as rich as to the amount of truth you can access...oh, but I digress...
I cannot discuss here what we spoke about..but instead I am going to give you an example..
I wrote on the wall of another friend on FB...I wish you a Happy 2012
A mother took her four year old son to a huge department store that specializes in toys only...it had three floors loaded with toys from both Asia and North America. She then told him, you can have as many toys as you like. After four hours of looking, time to eat lunch..the mother asked the child why the basket was empty. The child then went back to one section and took one toy and told the mother, this is all I want, Mommy. That is havingness....internal richness and self sufficiency..That child will never be "poor"..for he has no concept of "want"..he knows that he can have what he wants, at will...
And for the record, it was an observation rather than fiction..
 | Amazon Price: $8.59 List Price: $14.95 |
 | Amazon Price: $9.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $5.39 List Price: $14.95 |
 | Amazon Price: $1.99 |
James A Watkins Level 8 Commenter 2 years ago
How True! All we have is this moment. Jesus said, "Do not be anxious about tomorrow." One of the songs I wrote has the line, "Don't live in the past; then the pain in your heart won't last." Thanks for a fine message. I enjoyed the journey.