The Art of Now

Learn to find peace in the present – not just the future

Jean Edelman: Great to be with you this week. This week the word that has been rolling around in my mind is anticipation. We are at that time of year where we are anticipating everything – the holidays, the gatherings, the events, the meals, the traditions – the list is long. But here’s my question since we always live with anticipation of something, are we living the moments in between?

I have been doing a study of myself recently. We have an event coming up and it has been years and I’m out of practice. And just another side note, the weather here this week in November has been amazing, but this is my self-study. I have not been living the moments in between the anticipation. I find myself living with stress, thinking, worrying about the details. I have gotten stuck with this mind-spin.

So, what I have had to do is force myself to put my phone down, get the dogs and go out and take a walk. I have forced myself to limit the time that I work on these details. I have put a pad of paper and a pen next to my bed because when I wake up worrying, I write it down. And then I have forced myself to know that I do not need to go back and deal with that issue. I have had to convince myself that once I completed the task, it was done and I didn’t need to deal with it again. This has been a weird week.

The question is, how many times have we gotten swept into this anticipation, only to miss the moments in between, the life in between? And then once we get to the event, well, are we able to enjoy it? Because then we start worrying about the next thing. It’s crazy, having this awareness. It’s a big awareness. We need to live in the moment. We need to live in between these moments of anticipation. Otherwise, this event, it’s not going to have any meaning. It’s like the wedding that we work on and plan for a year. Once it’s there, those four hours, they go by in a heartbeat.

So just think about it. The action item is to observe. Are we in this moment or are we in a mind-spin about something that’s coming up? If we catch ourselves in that mind-spin, how can we stop? How can we put everything down and go for that walk outside?

This is the action item for the week. This is a biggie. We need to live the moments in between the anticipation, in between the event. Enjoying the beautiful day. Enjoying the beautiful colors. Enjoying whatever brings you beauty.

And so my word of the week is Spin.

The S is to Stop. We need to stop the madness. If we catch ourselves only focused on the anticipation, we need to take a break. Write down the details. Convince ourselves that we don’t need to rehash something. It is done.

The P is to Pace ourselves. We don’t need to get it all done in one session. Pace ourselves so we can slow it down so we don’t feel rushed, so that we can spread it all out, and all will be well.

The I is for Immerse, to become deeply involved. And that’s what happens. We should be immersed in the moments in between, but we seem to get immersed in the anticipation. And so, let’s shift that a little bit. Let’s look at the life in between. Let’s look at the here and now. Let’s breathe into and be in this moment instead of the anticipation of the future.

And then the N is for Nirvana, a state of being in peace and complete happiness, harmony and joy. And we can only have this in the here and the now, in this moment, in this micro moment, in this breath. This is where we find it.

And so, my friends, I wish you peace. I wish you to really, really look at the anticipation we are experiencing and do your best to live those moments in between, because that’s where our joyful life is. Have a beautiful, beautiful week.