Life can be hard.
We may experience pain and suffering.
That can cause us to not want to be here.
To run away from the agony.
We may want to hide from our life or our past.
And just find a way to stop the pain.
It can be too much for us at times.
Often, we just don’t have good ways to cope with the pain.
SO IT TAKES US AWAY FROM THE PRESENT MOMENT BECAUSE WE JUST DON’T WANT TO FEEL IT ANYMORE.
All we want is to have some relief and feel better.
We use all kinds of things to take us away from the pain.
Drugs, sex, food, alcohol, even our phones.
All these distractions take us out of the present moment.
They take us away, however briefly, from what we are feeling.
WHILE THIS COPING MECHANISM IS NECESSARY, IT ALSO HURTS US.
For we get so used to not being in the present moment, that we learn to almost never be here now.
The shame of it is that we only have the present moment.
This moment, right here, right now, is all we have.
ALL OF LIFE IS TRULY LIVED IN THE PRESENT FOR THE PAST IS GONE AND THE FUTURE HASN’T HAPPENED.
Yet we either get stuck avoiding our feelings for what happened in the past, or we escape into a future that never comes.
As conscious beings with choice we can make a different decision.
We can learn to deal with the pain and the sorrow from our past and let it go.
FREEDOM COMES WHEN WE GO THROUGH THAT PAIN INTO THE WHOLENESS THAT AWAITS ON THE OTHER SIDE FOR US.
It is not easy, that is certain.
This path through the pain is for the truly heroic at heart.
For some us never get there.
AND WE MISS OUT ON SO MUCH WHEN ALL WE DO IS FIND ANOTHER WAY TO TAKE US OUT OF THE PAIN AND OUT OF PRESENCE.
There is no easy answer.
The solution is challenging.
But the reward is the greatest prize of all.
Having our life back.
Being able to live in the present moment once again.
This present moment, and only this present moment, is all we ever have.
EVEN BEING PRESENT TO THE PAIN AND ANGUISH IS BETTER THAN BEING CHECKED OUT ALTOGETHER.
For the sensation of pain is not the hardest part.
It is all the stories we create around the pain.
How we tell ourselves that it will go on forever.
Or how it means there is something wrong with us.
IF WE CAN STOP JUDGING THE PAIN AS SOMETHING BAD, EVEN FOR A MOMENT, IT MAKES BEING PRESENT TO IT SO MUCH EASIER.
And then perhaps we can take a moment to see what the pain is trying to teach us.
If we can come to that place, then we can learn to live in all our present moments.
Is there something in your life that you are not being present to?
Can you find a way t be present to it even though it can be painful?
~ Sam Liebowitz, The Conscious Consultant
Host of The Conscious Consultant Hour
