Over the past few years I have worked with inmates who are attempting to start a life of recovery from addiction as they are about to transition back out into real life. One of the challenges with working with this type of client is keeping their attention in the here and now. Their minds are more often paying too much attention to what the near future may hold for them.
This is the case for many of us who are already in the “real world”. We are constantly living, mentally and emotionally, in either the future or the past. Too little is are attention and awareness on the present moment. Having our mind living too much into the future would be much like driving down the highway with our eyes focused miles down the road. In turn living in the past is like driving down that same highway with our eyes fixated on the rear view mirror. Either way we are not paying attention to what is right in front of us.
The truth is, the future that we stress about does not exist. An asteroid could slam into the earth next week, anything is possible. If there is a future to speak of however it is made up of everything that we are doing, feeling and thinking right here, right now. We are creating that future as we go through it. The past on the other hand is gone, and our memory of it, we now understand, is not as accurate as we think. The only benefit of the past is what we learn from it.
In my own journey meditation has been a big part of my personal growth. It keeps me here, in the place that matters. In the present right here right now. Hope to see you here.