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Living Life in the Moment
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
By Jay D. Allen
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Glance Behind but Focus Ahead.
Excerpted form Humans in Training by
Jay D. Allen. For more information or
to purchase the book, visit the Humans
in Training website at www.humansintraining.com
or call toll free: 1-866-HIT-BOOK (448-2665).
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All stages of growth come from having a desire
for more than what we currently have. To achieve
this, we set goals for ourselves; it is important
for all-round success and happiness that these
goals reflect growth on all levels — personal,
professional, and spiritual. Working to achieve
a set of goals motivates us to develop specific
relationships, structures, and personal habits.
Once these goals are achieved, these same relationships,
structures, and habits lay the foundation for
the next level of growth; however, they can
also prevent it unless we let go of the old
to make room for the new. We can become prisoners
of what we believe to be success, sometimes
for the rest of our life, if we lose our desire
to change or if we keep holding on to old relationships,
structures, and habits that no longer serve
us on the next level, where we aspire to be.
Past and future do not really exist; they only
exist in our minds. Yet they appear to be very
real to many people who struggle because they
are so focused on the past that they are not
able to move beyond it. Others are so stressed
out about what might happen in the future that
they are not participating in the present. The
present is the only time that really exists.
The extent to which we live in the past or the
future, rather than the present, makes all the
difference in the world about the direction
our life is taking. Whatever dominates an individual's
present thoughts, feelings, decisions, and actions,
determines the direction in which their life
moves. Why is it that they make rearview mirrors
in cars so small? So we can be aware of what
is behind, learn from the past, yet remain focused
on the here and now and on where we are going.
The purpose of the present is to enjoy the
process of constant growth and improvement while
laying the foundation for even greater growth
and development. The best news about the future
is that it is never too late to change it, because
the future is created in the eternal "here
and now," moment by moment. Who has control
of the present moment? We do, and each moment
deserves our full attention. As HUMANS IN TRAINING,
we can learn to live not just in the moment
but as the moment, consciously creating. When
we choose the future over the past, we enter
a new stage of individual growth.
Just as the participation of the mind is essential
in organizing and nourishing the physical aspects
of life, so the mind needs the physical body
in order to maintain a calm presence, which
is fundamental to all practices. The person
living in the moment is in control of their
thoughts; they are happy and highly successful.
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