Forward Thinking

Instead of looking forward, perhaps we look at now….

We may be the only country to start caucuses and primaries a full eleven months before the actual general election. And, still there are those who cry for it to begin sooner. We are a culture of forward thinkers. We eat breakfast and think about lunch or plan for dinner. We sit at the Thanksgiving table and decide Christmas menus; we lay on the beach and plot that next time we should go to Italy.

Just as my compatriots, I too fall into the forward thinking. I thought life was only manageable if I had something to look forward to; my current station would be all right if I knew that a platform awaited for another departure. I would go so far as to not plan one vacation but plot for the second while not yet even on the first. Plan ahead and postpone the now.

Whether it’s elections, meals, holidays, or vacations our ability to be in the present is as much a challenge in our body as in our minds. We dream of tomorrow while sticking our necks out to see in front of us or around us, not so much what’s inside of us.

Being in the present moment is not easy nor is it comfortable. It’s much nicer to wander down the path of what ifs and might bes. But given that this moment is all we have right here and right now, perhaps we can settle in, hold our heads squarely atop our shoulders and like yogini Judith Lasater encourages: “May we live like the lotus at home in muddy waters.”