Positive Planet Articles

 

The 4-word Secret to Happiness, Joy and Abundance
By Amy Phillips-Gary

LIVE IN THE NOW. Yes, we've probably all heard before the
advice to stay in the present moment, live in the right
now. Many of us have read Eckhart Tolle's book The Power
of Now. But how many of us actually live in the now
consistently, if much at all?

It's highly likely that it's not too many-- myself
included. I can't even count the number of times I drift
off and leave the present moment in order to make grocery
lists in my head, plan a vacation I'd like to take, worry
about a conversation I had last week or trouble over an
event coming up in a month. Sometimes it's the mundane and
other times it's core feelings or beliefs. It might be
pleasant daydreaming or wide awake nightmare-ing. But in
all cases, if my mind and attention are on anything other
than what's going on right now, I'm missing out.

I'm missing out on potential joys, potential expansions,
potential abundance, and-- yes-- potential sadness and
pain.

Act and react in the now.
When you live in the now, you can often act and react to
the unexpected in more beneficial ways. You cannot control
the behaviors of a person or group of people, but you can
definitely control how you respond to what's going on. The
key here is that when you act and react rooted in the now,
you are less likely to feel helpless or like a victim.

For example, when I walk our 100 lbs. St. Bernard dog
Ella, I tend to drift off in my mind. We travel together
through the neighborhood and, in my head, I have a tendency
to plan what I'm going to do when I get home, what I will
make for dinner, what chores I want the kids to do, etc.
Very quickly, I have left that moment walking the
neighborhood with Ella. And pretty soon she sees a
squirrel, attempts to take off after it, and I find myself
jolted back into the present with a jarring jerk on my arm.
If I'm lucky, I don't get pulled over!

How many times have you been jolted back into the present
when something unexpected arises in your life? I find that
when I stay present during my walks with Ella, I am often
aware of that squirrel before she tries to leap after it.
As a result, I can redirect her attention or, at the very
least, brace my legs so that I don't get dragged along with
her.

No matter what's going on in your life, your best chances
of responding in an empowered way are if you stay in the
present, in the now.

Choose your nows consciously.
When you are fully present in this moment, you can also
make changes or shifts. If the conditions of your life
don't please you, don't "check out" by engaging in mind-
numbing or escapist activities. Instead, become aware of
what you don't like about your now and take steps to move
in the direction of what you want.

You might really dislike your job. In fact, it may be
such a drag on you intellectually, emotionally,
financially, or in other ways that you do whatever it takes
to survive and just get try to get through the discontented
day. You may play online games or visit chat rooms
whenever you can sneak that in. Or you may go through the
motions of your job all the while you are yearning for the
weekend. There's nothing wrong with online games, chat
rooms or weekends. But when you use anything to avoid the
way you are feeling, improvements are probably not going to
happen for you.

But if, as in this example, you find yourself "checking
out" much of the time at work because you are dissatisfied
with where you are, come back to the present and make
conscious choices to change your now. Beginning a new job
search in your spare time or taking classes in the evenings
to move toward a different career are paths you might take.
You can choose many things about your now. Are you?

Mine your now for signs of what's going right.
Just as a miner has to stay aware and present as he or she
digs in the earth for precious gems, so too can you mine
your now-or present moment-for "gems" of joy and abundance.
If the miner's mind is busy planning his or her weekend
while digging and sifting through rock and soil, the
desired gems might be lost or cast aside.

It's exactly the same in other life situations. Among the
multitudes of potential experiences you can have of a
particular situation, there are pleasing possibilities and
unpleasing possibilities; there is evidence of what's out
of synch and evidence of what is perfectly in tune with
your desires. It's up to to stay awake and present in the
right now so that you can choose to experience your life as
happily, richly, and joyfully as you want to.

It's as simple as living in the now.
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Amy Phillips-Gary is a free-lance writer, homeschool mom and
personal growth adventurer.
 

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Susie and Otto Collins are Relationship Coaches and authors of 4 books on relationships and personal growth. To get their FREE weekly newsletter filled with practical tips and ideas for creating more connected, passionate and alive relationships send a blank message to mailto:collins@aweber.com 
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