This year I'd like to truly live in the moment, even if it's a moment I can't stand. According to spiritual teachers of all traditions, and now brain scientists, there is great peace and freedom there. I'm very good at living in the moment when it's a moment I like, such as enjoying a banana shake while sitting on the beach in Thailand, but not so good at it while sitting for a fourth hour of powerpoint lecture.
The thing is, when I leave the moment during a situation I don't like, my mind races to everything I've done in the past that has gotten me to where I am now, and everything I'll change in the future so I'll never feel miserable again. Then, by the fourth hour of powerpoint lecture, I'm lost in a full blown fantasy of some other life I could have been leading if I'd only done this or that. But I'm also wise enough to know that if I were living that other life I'd probably be fantasizing about this one. That's what can happen just from leaving the Now.
So, my intention for this new year is to practice staying present, surrendering to "what is", the is-ness, of the moments I can't stand. I hear there is great peace and freedom there. Happy New Year!
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