December 16, 2009
Live well today to make your past a dream of happiness and your future a vision of hope.
Human beings spend a great deal of time thinking about the past and the future. In his book, Authentic Happiness, Dr. Martin Seligman explained that some significant part of our happiness is due to our thoughts about the past and future. These thoughts are so powerful and pervasive that it is easy to forget that we have no control over the past and future. We can only control what we think and do in the present.
Most of us spend most of our time in safe and pleasant surroundings. At any given moment we are warm, dry, fed, with access to enough to drink. Often there is something beautiful right in front of us to see or hear if we only tune in to listen. Most of us are safe in any given moment. And many of us fail to enjoy these blessings moment to moment because we are remembering a time when those things were not true or stressing about a point in the future when they may not be true.
The essence of meditation is to quiet the mind enough to experience what is happening in the moment. In the book, How to Maintain Your Sanity in an Upside-Down World, Jim Keelan outlines several easy ways to start to meditate. Often, just taking a moment to take one or two deep breaths is enough to refocus us on the present.
So, focus on making your today the best it can be and you will find you can…
Live well today to make your past a dream of happiness and your future a vision of hope..
Affirmation I focus on the present, on living today the best that I can. When I am sad about the past, or worried about the future, I take a deep breath to bring myself back to the present and focus on living well today.
Journal or Meditation Question When have I experienced a good day recently? Did the past seem happier on a good day? Did the future seem brighter that day? What action can I take here and now to live well today?
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