Life is a Never-Ending Now
It is just one continuous moment.
We are taught to think of time as if each moment is fragmented and different from the one prior and the one coming after. I believe that time is a never-ending now. It is connected with the past and the future but we experience it in the present. It is one, never-ending now.
Think of a time you came back from vacation. The moment you enter your house you feel as if you never left. As if you didn’t spend those 7 days on the beach. This feeling would aggravate me because it would feel like I went for nothing. This lasted until I realized that life is one moment. It is just one continuous moment.
Realizing this changed my perspective on life. I realized that there is no need to feel fear, anxiety, or worry about the future. There is no future. Whatever happens, happens in the present because we are alive only in the present. Whatever we can do, we can do only in the present.
“The longest-lived and those who will die soonest lose the same thing. The present is all that they can give up, since that is all you have, and what you do not have, you cannot lose.” - Marcus Aurelius
There is no need to fear the unknown future. It’s unknown and nothing was promised to us. We act like we signed an agreement with God upon birth. This is why we take things for granted and don’t show gratitude for the things that we have until we lose them. Health, food, shelter, our loved ones…
How about being aware of all the good things that we possess and feeling special because we have them. Eyes that see, ears that hear, two legs that we can walk on, hands that grasp, food on the table, a roof over our head…
Forget an incessant obsession to obtain all material goods. The world is full of people who don’t posses a fully functioning body and the basic necessities to live a secure life.
We need to be aware of how much wealth we possess while we are in possession of these invaluable things. Be grateful and happy because you have these in this moment. For those of us who don’t, may God help you and give you this wealth in a speedy manner.
Watching the Chicago Bulls’ documentary, ‘The Last Dance’, gave me even more proof of the power of the present. A reporter said that Michael Jordan’s most important talent and number one reason for being this successful was because he lived only in the present. He wasn’t afraid of missing a shot he hadn’t taken yet because in his words, “he hadn’t taken it yet”. His focus was only in the current moment.
We breathe and exist only in the never-ending now. Feel no fear about living a short life or your mind giving you fake scenarios about what will happen in the future. We will see when the future becomes the present. In the meantime, just be in the present and give it your best because that is all we have.
We are only alive in the present. That is why nothing makes me afraid about a ‘future’ that I haven’t experienced yet.
“I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living now.” ― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
