I have been thinking about something a lot lately.  I have been thinking about why life seems so challenging for a lot of people.  The thing that I keep coming back to is that we have a vivid imagination.  See, most people are living in a future that they have created in their mind.  A conceptualization of the most likely scenario of what is going to happen next.  I believe we live there most of the time, in that future that we have made up, based on our past experiences.

So what?  Why does it matter that we live in the future?  It only matters in so much as it is not real.  It is not real because 99% of the time the scenario we made up doesn't even happen.  So what?  I believe that most people are in reaction to that future they have made up, so much that they are not present, here and now.  That they are experiencing low-level emotions (stress, overwhelm, anxiety, worry, anything that doesn't feel good) based on that made up future, not on what is actually happening.  Wait, what?!

That's right! When we are not feeling good emotionally it is because we have decided something about the future, often bad, and we are deciding how to feel about that made up future now (typically to feel bad)!  Sounds kind of wacky, right?  Why would we dress rehearse for a scenario that isn't going to play out and get so emotionally attached to the character we are playing, when there isn't going to be an opening night?

We do this because this is how the subconscious mind functions.  It takes in massive amounts of information and sorts and files it away so that when we need it we can recall it and survive, which by the way, is the only M.O. of the subconscious mind, survival!

Since making up stories about the future tends to make us feel bad (not all stories, but many of them) wouldn't it be great to figure a way out of acting out a future and  feeling bad, since the scenario doesn't even happen?  How you do this is by living in the present moment.  Think about this moment now, the present moment, tell me what is your problem at this moment?  Nothing.  There is nothing actually happening right now.  You are sitting and reading this email, that is it.  And, that is where true freedom lives, in the present moment. 

Would you like to learn how to stop living in the future and be here now, aware of what is happening in front of you, truly experience your life, being present with your loved ones? Let's connect next week so I can teach you a strategy to being in the present moment so that you can find joy and freedom in your life now.  What works for you?
Peace, Erin "here, now" Mac