"In between stimulus and response there is a space, in that space lies our power to choose our response, in our response lies our growth and freedom." - Victor Frankl, Psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor
To know what really matters to us; to tease out the deepest and most precious meaning; to exploit our capacity for awe, wonder and delight are the pearls of great price in a lifetime. These pearls are the treasures we can find when we bring awareness to the present moment.
This practice is powerfully communicated in a wonderful book on this topic, The Now Effect, How This Moment Can Change the Rest of Your Life by Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. What is the Now Effect? Dr. Goldstein maintains, " ...when we can train our minds to see the spaces of choice in our lives and meet them with mindfulness, we can literally rewire a healthier brain and change the way we think before we think." This is what he calls The Now Effect.
Personally I recognize how much of a time traveler I am, visiting the past, projecting my attention into future possibilities and possible outcomes. I know this human tendency very well, and yet I am becoming more aware of how costly are these trips away from the present moment. Unless I am "here and now" with my awareness, I have no choice but to react from my conditioned mind. Since most of my unconscious reactions are protective, or defensive, or fear-based, I rarely, if ever, achieve a desirable state of mind or heart. However, in those moments when I can keep my attention in the present moment, my perception is finer, and I have room to pivot. In that state of clarity, I am much more likely to see the facts, without the story, and generate responses that will lead me to the pearls of life.
Awareness and focus in the present moment is such a simple premise. Yet, with widespread application to every area of our lives, it can profoundly enhance the precious moments that make up our days. Across the many traditions, awareness is the entry point for all spiritual growth and development. Through mindfulness, we see more clearly and thus glimpse our depths and our capacities to experience and express our Divine nature. At the very least, it will give us pause where we might otherwise have sped past a critical junction, where mindfulness might yield a higher path for us to follow. This focus reveals opportunities to find the "spaces" in our life, those defining moments, where we can consciously choose those responses that will lead us to greater "growth and freedom."
With you, in the eternal now,
Larry
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