You’re driving in your car, heading home from an appointment at the doctor’s office.  All the tasks and errands for the rest of the day are running through your mind.  I got the appointment done.  Check.  Just need to feed and walk the dog, pay this bill, mail that letter, and prepare dinner.  You arrive at your house, and as you’re pulling into your driveway, a sheer panic sets over you.  I don’t remember the last few miles of driving home!  Did I stop at red lights and stop signs?  How the hell did I even get here?

It’s a miracle in thought.  How DOES one do a task such as drive a car from one place to another, without consciously being aware, and make it to the destination without crashing into something?  Can autopilot REALLY be that optimized to do things like avoid danger, follow cues, obey laws, and take you to the places you need to go when you’re not consciously there?  I’ll leave autopilot for another day...but what I DO want to focus on here is presence.

“If you are depressed you are living in the past. 

If you are anxious you are living in the future. 

If you are at peace you are living in the present.”

-Lao Tzu

When we are depressed, we haven’t accepted, processed, and let go of the past.  We are too busy mulling over what we could have done different, or better; what it would be like now, if we hadn’t gone through it the way we did.

It’s also understandable that in today’s fast-paced world, distractions are many.  How often do we get overwhelmed with task lists, meetings, schedules, and so on?  We become so engulfed in worrying about the future, that we swim in anxiety.

When considering that the past and the future are the places that we are living at in our minds more often than not, it is logical that when we attempt to focus on the present, we get easily distracted.  Our minds are constantly going.  If you’ve ever tried to meditate, you know that at LEAST the first time you do it, it seems impossible to focus on the present moment and detach from the thoughts passing through. 

The problem with this, however, is that by living this way, you aren’t giving yourself much of a chance to align with your inner being...to listen to the voice within that guides you.  Your inner being resides in the present.  When you’re depressed, or anxious, you’re disconnected from your inner being, because you’re not present.  In a previous blog, I talked about frequencies and used the analogy of radio stations.  If you’re listening to the blues on the depression station, you’re missing out on the songs your inner being are playing to guide you over on the presence station.

I’ve also said before that life is about experiencing contrast, and it’s valid and understandable to feel depressed and/or anxious...just don’t build a house there.  Feel through it, fully and truly in the amount of time that is needed to do so, but then move forward.

Presence provides us with many benefits, including but not limited to:

• We aren’t depressed about the past

• We aren’t anxious about the future

• We are able to focus on what is happening in the now

• We are able to fully live the current experience

• We are aware of what is going on around us

• We are able to make the best decisions with guidance provided within

• We are showing up for others

• We are showing up for ourselves

• We are using our energy in areas we have control over

Presence in the non-physical is dominant, and of a pure light and love...yet oddly in this physical life, we have to work towards making it even “normal”.  Even further, when we don’t move out of those negative states like depression, anxiety, and so on, we begin to develop symptoms that are alerting us to address the issues.  If they get tucked under the rug for long enough, the symptoms become physical.  Often times it takes physical pain to make humans act on what is, in actuality, emotional wounds.  It doesn’t have to get to that point, but stubbornness prevails when the ego is in charge.

Presence points to a state of unified health.  Integration of the past, and detachment from outcomes of the future.  Getting present gives yourself a chance to be guided, to hear what your inner being has to say.  It’s disallowing the ego to protect you when leaving the comfort zone is needed for positive growth.  It’s setting healthy boundaries and sticking to them.  It’s making choices from a state of love, and sharing that love with those around you.  It’s being in a place where you’re able to fill your cup.

Life won’t let you be present 100% of the time, but if you aim to be there the majority of the time, you’ll be giving yourself the gift of balance, and you will be mostly in the zone of attracting, manifesting, and experiencing the people, places, and things that are in alignment with your soul.