It needs constant reference to past and future to strengthen its hold on our lives. So we often find ourselves lost in thought of some other time or place.

But we can learn to deny this wandering egoic mind and instead confront the present, no matter what problems it presents us. Embrace it and feel whatever it is we have to feel, viscerally if necessary because by acknowledging our feelings and being truly in this present moment, we also remove a lot of the power those feelings have over us (because we are not threatened by them, not trying to hide from them or run away from them – into the past or the future). We are dealing with things exactly as they (and we) are, right here and right  now. This is bravery.

This is bravery because life can be overwhelming. It can feel unfair. It can throw things at us – sometimes when we are least expecting it and sometimes when we are already on the brink and feel we just can’t take any more.

But are the problems we are confronted with really as stressful as we imagine? Are we actually creating some (or even all) of that stress for ourselves? Isn’t a large part of that stress assosciated with outcomes, worries about other peoples thoughts or behaviour (which we have little or no control over) or what amounts to delving once more into the past or future ‘what if’ scenarios?

The present moment usually comes down to do or do not. It is that simple. It is also in reality where the only action ever is. Where the only experience ever is… and then it’s gone.

Why miss it?

Why spend your time elsewhere and miss the only reality you actually have – that of the present moment?

When it becomes natural to simply rest here – on the razor-thin line of the present moment, without being pulled away by the imagination or the ego – we can find boundless relaxation in just being here with this.

It’s actually all there is and it’s what life is all about.

When we’re completely relaxed with our unfolding experience of this preaent moment, our problems have nothing to stick to; they can find no place to settle in our minds. And out of this determination to stay present comes peace of mind.

Of course we may drift, but with practice and time and intention we get better at remaining centered in our ongoing experience for increasingly long periods, until finally we see no need or tendency to lose ourselves in the past or future.