Wednesday Wisdom: There is no present like time

There are many different day-to-day references to time: ‘how time flies’  – ‘time waits for no man’ – ‘when I have time’ – ‘what is the time’, and more.  We refer to time in many different ways throughout our waking hours, without necessarily realising that the only time we have is now. 

Whilst contemplating and planning the day, week, month and year(s) ahead, it is often forgotten that our lives are made up of continuous moments of now.  The annual calendar rolls on in absence of the recognition that it is in how we live the present – the now – that we spend our lives. 

One of the many privileges of the work I do in the medico-legal and coaching fields, is hearing a multitude of interesting, absorbing, and sometimes heart-wrenching, life stories leading up to the moment clients have found themselves in my consulting rooms. 

Although there can be no turning the clock back and whatever water has gone under the bridge has long since flowed, a common denominator is the recognition that life is in constant, dynamic motion and there really is no guarantee of what the future will bring. 

Even the well thought through, best laid plans, are vulnerable to the ravages of time – sometimes being altered in an instant, forever.  And once altered, it is too late to change, react to, or absorb the uniqueness of the moment.  All that is left is a sense of longing for what was or could have been. 

The offering of what now holds is missed when only focusing on what the past held or on what the future will bring, reminiscing about what has been or rushing through the moment to get to some utopia not yet discovered.

It is important that we take note, feel, smell, touch and experience every moment of now  and use it wisely as we walk our path, striving to attain the vision created for the future, without missing the present, for if we do not, we will let the richness and experience of life pass us by.

The illusion that we will one day ‘arrive’ is exactly that – an illusion.  We do not so much arrive, as evolve.  If we do not cherish the process of evolution created through moments of now, it is impossible to learn from and live life to its fullest.

Let’s consider today.  Whatever plans you have for the day and wherever it takes you, take a deep breath, focus and consider the activity you are busy with in the moment.  Experience it to its fullest by giving it a hundred percent of your attention, rather than completing the task while thinking about what is next or what else needs to be done in the day. 

This kind of conscious and mindful engagement provides the gift of presence, in which even the most mundane task creates a sense of fulfilment and nourishment. It is a state of being which only the now can provide. 

There really is no time like the present, to live life to its fullest.

ELISE

27th of March 2019