What's Here and Now?

Ever notice that it's always now? Don't take my word for it; take a moment and see for yourself; that you are always here, now. That no matter how much you may think and worry about the future, or ruminate about what happened in the past, you never actually leave the open space called the here and now. The fact is that you will spend your entire life in the here and now, and you will never leave it; not once.

It can be said that all of our suffering, all of our feelings of dread and anxiety come from trying to get away from the present moment, and get to somewhere in the future, which the mind tells us, will be 'better', 'happier', or more 'to our liking'. In this imaginary, projected future, we will have what we think we need to be happy and we will be at peace in our lives. Of course, if you have lived long enough, you know that this illusion never quite materializes.

Happiness remains elusive; just over the next hill and peace as fleeting as the next unfulfilled promise of security. We spend our whole lives in a perpetual race to get away from what is happening now, hoping beyond hope, that 'over there' will be better than right here. But what happens when we actually wake up from this madness and begin to live our lives where we are? What happens when what is happening now is not only enough, but what we want?

Close your eyes, have a look and ask yourself, 'right now, what is lacking'? Ask yourself, 'Who am I when there is no problem to solve'? What you may begin to see is that, when you actually wake up in the now, nothing is lacking, and happiness is already who you are. All you have to do is continually be the one who notices; I am always here, I am always now.