We often bring our past to the present and mull it over to say that “I’ve been through this.” Sometimes it helps to get some kind of closure on things that were left open, perhaps because we couldn’t cope with it at the time, possibly, because of overwhelming negative emotions. However, most of the time, digging up the past doesn’t bring us any closer to the solution. So why do we keep going back to yesterday? It is the mind that dumps the past at our table. Most often, we end up cursing the event and complain about how people have wronged us in the past. What does this do anyway? It only spoils the moment that we have at hand. Not only do we curse these kinds of situations, but we also tend to nurse them. We let our thoughts and emotions dwell on that memory and let it fester into something bigger, so much so that it drags us down with it. The mind is such a rascal that it doesn’t let us focus on matters that matter. This is when we must ask ourselves, “Does it make sense to live in the pain of yesterday? How can we reverse the situation rather than curse it, nurse it and rehearse it?” We know that the past is gone forever. It cannot be changed. Though our intellect knows this fact, our mind continues to make us miserable, thinking about the past. We don’t want to be miserable, but we sink into the past so easily, losing our present moment to an irreversible situation. When we drag ourselves into the past, we end up living in the misery of yesterday and we lose the opportunity of being happy today. The way to resolve this is to vow to live in the now, with joy, bliss, and peace.
As humans, we tend to live in today but think of tomorrow. There are both hopes and fears about the future. While hopes may be considered positive, there is always the fear of our hopes and expectations not being met and consequently, of us being disappointed. What exactly is fear? We can think of FEAR as False Expectations Appearing Real. Fear is just an imaginary threat, the danger is not even real. Our mind is programmed such that false expectations appear to be real. Never lose the present moment of joy to the fear of the future! There are thousands of fears that have the potential to steal our happiness if we let them, by worrying about the future. Why should we even think about tomorrow? In fact, tomorrow never comes. Does tomorrow even exist? Think. All we have is today. So, what should we do? We should focus on today. We should learn to be happy today. Being happy, moment by moment is achievable. When we try to be happy in yesterday’s memories and try to live in tomorrow’s hopes and fears, we may fall into a deep gorge of unhappiness. Don’t live in tomorrow. Live in today, live in the now and you will experience joy.
Remember, happiness is a choice. We must want to be happy, we must choose to be happy! To start, enjoy moments of the present and be inspired to have more of these moments. Realize that the mind is our enemy. It steals our now and with it, the peace and joy that exist in the now. It takes us into miseries of the past and fears of the future. If we want to be in the now, enjoying bliss and tranquility, then we must realize this truth. We must separate ourselves from the mind, observe our mind and transcend it. Let’s start now! Pay attention to the mind and see how it jumps. Gently bring it back to the now. We will realize how beautiful the now is. Once we start this practice, slowly but steadily, we will start living joyously in the now.
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