A PLEASANT OR NON-PLEASANT PRESENT

Fear of the unknown doesn't make sense.

The unknown, since it is just that -- unknown, can be given a face only in your fertile imagination. Your imagination can create an unknown world of pleasant possibilities or stark terror -- your choice.

Now the present is another story.

If you're into fear, and you're determined to fear something, fear the present. At least you know what IS happening, and your imagination is as useless as World Series rings with Chicago Cubs engraved on them.

The challenge comes in your being truthful with yourself, not about what did or could happen, but about what is actually happening -- the present. Is your present pleasant or is it a not so pleasant present?

You may feel your present sucks rotten eggs -- but does it? Your present may seem unpleasant because you have chosen to view past and future events as negative and have willingly rolled your present, past and future into one big depressing mental ball.

The past and the future are great places to visit, but you don't want to live there. They're like Oz; they don't exist in any practical sense.

According to the late Buckminster Fuller, a futurist, philosopher, engineer, architect, mathematician and all-around cool guy, we as humans are 99 percent "non form." Ninety-nine percent of who we are is lived internally -- in our heads.

If that seems a bit much, consider:

All of your past is alive to you only in your thoughts. (You can think about last week, but you can't physically be there last week.)

All of your future is lived in your thoughts. (You can think about next week but can't physically be there next week.)

Only the immediate present is lived in your body.

All of your past and all of your future is lived mentally. Only a fleeting one percent of a present moment is lived in the body. While I'm a statistics skeptic, I'll subscribe to Bucky's 99 percent number.

The importance of the present is further demonstrated by exhaustive research (I researched it until I got exhausted) which proves you are most productive when your mind and body are in the same place at the same time. That only happens in the present moment. If you're creating an unpleasant present, you will have blown the only real time you can do anything about anything.

How are things going, right here, right now? Separate what did happen yesterday and what you think might happen tomorrow, and concentrate on this moment. Are you feeling OK right now? Is everything acceptable on the job right now? With the family? Health good? Right now?


Lesson: Now is all you have. Live in it.