Our Strongest Power: Living in the Present

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spective in place. However, this doesn’t mean we are powerless against them.</p><blockquote id="38e3"><p>“Just keep in mind: the more we value things outside our control, the less control we have.” — <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B8O95OhD0AD/">Epictetus</a></p></blockquote><p id="d1ee">This <b>negative attention mechanism</b> is built perfectly so that it always tells us something that will get our attention right away. One of its most <b>effective</b> tactics is that it scares us by saying that these inner voices are our thoughts. No. These aren’t our thoughts. We are what we <b>consciously</b> choose and we have no control over these voices. They just come out of nowhere harassing us for our attention.</p><figure id="caff"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/0*w2UzXw5pDZsdy2bQ"><figcaption>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@mdfvris?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">Muhammad Faris</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure><p id="6212">Everybody gets <b>good</b> thoughts and <b>bad</b> thoughts. Hearing those bad thoughts doesn’t make them part of us. The same is true about good thoughts. We are what we<b> consciously </b>choose. We pick who we are. Not those inner voices whose only job is to get our attention and make us feel bad by making it seem like those thoughts are ours. Those voices might be coming from within but they certainly aren’t ours. They are just voices in our heads. We need to choose and embrace them to feel any kind of association with them.</p><p id="cc4c" type="7">“Today I escaped anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions, not outside.”</p><p id="7e73" type="7">— Marcus Aurelius: Meditations. Book 9.13</p><p id="311f">Life is a constant struggle. And to be quite honest, I don’t think it ever gets easy. We are constantly in a fight against evil. Sometimes the evil outside, more often, the<b> evil within</b>. We have to be <b>vigilant</b> on a consistent basis to maintain our inner peace. We have to be deaf to the inside evil and keep in mind that we only have <b>one weapon</b> against it, <b>indifference</b>. If we do find ourselves inside our head, just ignore its attacks and get back to the present. You’ll see that it will be silenced because of this action.</p><p id="7161">I’m aware that it’s easy to say and not that easy to do but we have to start somewhere. You’ll see how those voices are silenced when we <b>consciously</b> choose to be focused on the present.</p><p id="18ba">Think of a time when you were so engaged with the present that you lose the track of

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time. You were in the <b>flow-state</b>. I’m 100% sure that you didn’t hear any voices from inside your head when you were in that flow-state. That is the <b>power</b> of the present. That is what we are after. And once we have that, we need to do whatever we can to maintain it.</p><p id="d809"><b>Choose</b> to be in the present, consciously. After choosing<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B2XyWbBnU4B/"> so many times</a>, you’ll see how <b>powerful</b> your mind is. It will <b>automatically</b> do the choosing for you and you won’t hear those voices anymore. They will still be talking, vying for your attention but you won’t hear them because your mind will have chosen for you to ignore them, <b>subconsciously</b>, without you being aware of it.</p><blockquote id="ee3d"><p>“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, for he that is so wants nothing.” — Seneca</p></blockquote><div id="d3a6" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/i-am-fa90aa8fea01"> <div> <div> <h2>I Am…</h2> <div><h3>Have we ever asked ourselves the question, who am I?</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*DXpLINhcrtCnA9Vh)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="dc49" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/life-is-about-balance-f88e8b8c7d17"> <div> <div> <h2>Life is About Balance</h2> <div><h3>Black and white. Love and hate. Happiness and unhappiness.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*h9_cShEIee4LF3e7)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="47f7" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/effortless-consumption-3dbec293293d"> <div> <div> <h2>Effortless Consumption</h2> <div><h3>Don’t think, just click!</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*zgwF3DT_i7XzLK3F)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

“We suffer more in imagination than in reality.” — Seneca

Those attention-seeking voices coming from the depths of our head is looking to do one thing, and one thing only, to take us away from the peace the present brings and put us into an imaginary state where it works wonders to make us believe that what it’s saying is true and right.

Those inner voices are always on point. Always. They know us better than we do and always find something to take our attention away from the present so we focus on them. And that something is something that will always take our attention away from the present and make us get inside our head. This is how amazing its ability is.

We have to keep in mind that we can’t win once we are inside our head. This fight is a never-ending square-off between a facade and our struggle to get back to the present, in which we absolutely can’t try to fight these inner voices. The more we try to fight them off, try to silence them, and act accordingly so they are satisfied, thinking that they will be silenced, the longer these voices will trap us inside our head and away from the real world.

The more we try to satisfy the voices by talking to them, pondering about them, and forming an opinion about them, the deeper we sink and it becomes more difficult to get to the surface. We need to do one thing and one thing only, ignore those voices. Be indifferent to them. We need to teach ourselves that these are fake thoughts. Completely phony.

Once we start believing them, our sinking starts. Once we tell ourselves that it’s not our thoughts, we rise to the surface and get back to the present. Every time it nags us to go inside and satisfy its wishes, we got to tell ourselves that it’s not our thoughts and just ignore its attacks on our attention. Ignore, be indifferent, and focus on the present.

We absolutely have no control over those voices. We can’t stop them from coming. They will continue to come as long as we live. This, we need to accept. Only after we accept this truth, can we get our perspective in place. However, this doesn’t mean we are powerless against them.

“Just keep in mind: the more we value things outside our control, the less control we have.” — Epictetus

This negative attention mechanism is built perfectly so that it always tells us something that will get our attention right away. One of its most effective tactics is that it scares us by saying that these inner voices are our thoughts. No. These aren’t our thoughts. We are what we consciously choose and we have no control over these voices. They just come out of nowhere harassing us for our attention.

Everybody gets good thoughts and bad thoughts. Hearing those bad thoughts doesn’t make them part of us. The same is true about good thoughts. We are what we consciously choose. We pick who we are. Not those inner voices whose only job is to get our attention and make us feel bad by making it seem like those thoughts are ours. Those voices might be coming from within but they certainly aren’t ours. They are just voices in our heads. We need to choose and embrace them to feel any kind of association with them.

“Today I escaped anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions, not outside.”

— Marcus Aurelius: Meditations. Book 9.13

Life is a constant struggle. And to be quite honest, I don’t think it ever gets easy. We are constantly in a fight against evil. Sometimes the evil outside, more often, the evil within. We have to be vigilant on a consistent basis to maintain our inner peace. We have to be deaf to the inside evil and keep in mind that we only have one weapon against it, indifference. If we do find ourselves inside our head, just ignore its attacks and get back to the present. You’ll see that it will be silenced because of this action.

I’m aware that it’s easy to say and not that easy to do but we have to start somewhere. You’ll see how those voices are silenced when we consciously choose to be focused on the present.

Think of a time when you were so engaged with the present that you lose the track of time. You were in the flow-state. I’m 100% sure that you didn’t hear any voices from inside your head when you were in that flow-state. That is the power of the present. That is what we are after. And once we have that, we need to do whatever we can to maintain it.

Choose to be in the present, consciously. After choosing so many times, you’ll see how powerful your mind is. It will automatically do the choosing for you and you won’t hear those voices anymore. They will still be talking, vying for your attention but you won’t hear them because your mind will have chosen for you to ignore them, subconsciously, without you being aware of it.

“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, for he that is so wants nothing.” — Seneca