(The amazing beauty of Antarctica)"TIME"
I received a handout at the retreat about "TIME". It was jam-packed with plenty of wonderful thoughts. I'm going to share just part of it today. The first two sections follow:
THE TIME THAT MATTERS MOST
THE PRESENT MOMENT, if you think about it, is the only time there is. No matter what time it is, it is always now. Yet often we live somewhere else. With thoughts of the past and concerns about the future, we rob ourselves of a full experience of the present. Although the past is over and the future is never quite here, our minds are usually so involved with one or both of them that the present serves very little function except to form a bridge between the two.
THERE IS ANOTHER WAY TO FOCUS OUR MINDS, claiming more fully our experience of being alive in the moment. The cultivation of stillness, of a sense of the sacred in every instant, is a radically different perspective from the speedy ride of linear time that dominates our world. Living fully in the moment is key to both personal and spiritual liberation. To be set free of our obsessions with the past and future is to be free of the chains that bind us to them. We do not heal the past by dwelling there; we heal the past by living fully in the present. We do not secure a better future by living in the future; we secure a better future by living full and well in the present. Time weighs heavy upon us, until timelessness lifts us and sets us free.
- - By Marianne Williamson
What a beautiful reminder. Before I found recovery, the last place I wanted to be was in the present and I spent most of my time somewhere else. I was either in the past with remorse, shame, and guilt over what I thought should or shouldn't have happened or I was in a future that was either bleak and horrible or a fairy tale fantasy. Drinking helped me stay out of the present. Never being in the present made me crazy.
Recovery brought me a willingness to face "now", deal with things from my past, and stay out of the future (projection). The steps have provided the perfect plan for doing just this.
I have actually found that the present is where beauty, joy, hope, love, happiness, all of life exists. When I am filled with fear, I often find that my thinking is either in the past or the future. When I reel myself back to the present, I'm usually O.K. It is in this very moment that I can find God. And God is my constant refuge, hope, and power--which I lack.
I like to call "now" the:
Two other thoughts regarding time are:
THE PRESENT MOMENT, if you think about it, is the only time there is. No matter what time it is, it is always now. Yet often we live somewhere else. With thoughts of the past and concerns about the future, we rob ourselves of a full experience of the present. Although the past is over and the future is never quite here, our minds are usually so involved with one or both of them that the present serves very little function except to form a bridge between the two.
THERE IS ANOTHER WAY TO FOCUS OUR MINDS, claiming more fully our experience of being alive in the moment. The cultivation of stillness, of a sense of the sacred in every instant, is a radically different perspective from the speedy ride of linear time that dominates our world. Living fully in the moment is key to both personal and spiritual liberation. To be set free of our obsessions with the past and future is to be free of the chains that bind us to them. We do not heal the past by dwelling there; we heal the past by living fully in the present. We do not secure a better future by living in the future; we secure a better future by living full and well in the present. Time weighs heavy upon us, until timelessness lifts us and sets us free.
- - By Marianne Williamson
What a beautiful reminder. Before I found recovery, the last place I wanted to be was in the present and I spent most of my time somewhere else. I was either in the past with remorse, shame, and guilt over what I thought should or shouldn't have happened or I was in a future that was either bleak and horrible or a fairy tale fantasy. Drinking helped me stay out of the present. Never being in the present made me crazy.
Recovery brought me a willingness to face "now", deal with things from my past, and stay out of the future (projection). The steps have provided the perfect plan for doing just this.
I have actually found that the present is where beauty, joy, hope, love, happiness, all of life exists. When I am filled with fear, I often find that my thinking is either in the past or the future. When I reel myself back to the present, I'm usually O.K. It is in this very moment that I can find God. And God is my constant refuge, hope, and power--which I lack.
I like to call "now" the:
"Precious Present"
(there goes my "p"reference for "P"s. again -grin-)
(there goes my "p"reference for "P"s. again -grin-)
Two other thoughts regarding time are:
"The point of power
is always in the present moment."
and
NOW = Not Our Will
Love you all,
Prayer Girl
is always in the present moment."
and
NOW = Not Our Will
Love you all,
Prayer Girl
7 comments:
Beautiful photo! Prayer Girl, it sure was C O L D down under in Antactica. Never again! (No, we were NOT there!)
I am SO glad that you decided just a couple months ago to join us, as we trudge the road of the Internet to our happy destiny.
See you tomorrow, when? about noon? How about a ride for coffee, around 2 PM? Leave a note!
all the facets of time. which we can use in our favour whenever we choose to. lovely. and i like the NOW. that i'm writing down!
Wow what an elegant reminder of the solution here, to stay in the moments that we have and only that we have...thank you! What a goregous and amazing post!
Gabi
Good Morning Prayer Girl, I loved what you posted on time. IT IS SOOO WHAT I NEEDED TO READ and be reminded of. Thank you
staying in the moment is hard but so rewarding when you get it right.
Cat
I talked about that to some newcomers last night. It's amazing how much people in pain prefer to think about the past with all of its troubles or the future with it's "what if's". Today is all that I have. And if I squander it then it is lost to me as well. Thanks for all that you write. Your posts are elegant and thought-provoking.
Thank you for a great post. Although I'm sure people think I am living in my past because my blog is basiclly about the past, I do not. I recomend the book, "The Power Of Now" by Eckhart Tolle. It is a great explaination of this topic!jeNN
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