The Power of Now...

This is about living in the moment and also making the most of every moment.  It is not about sitting on a mountain meditating hoping for the universe to provide, it is about looking into yourself, discovering your own path and taking inspired action toward what you want in life...
 

“The Chaos Theory”

Do you find yourself over thinking things or going into a spin in your mind over a certain situation? You know the times where you over analyse things, over react and dramatise turning it into something it may not currently be but in creating the chaos in your head it actually ends up playing out in reality?  I often wonder why we might do this and create so much pain and frustration for ourselves.  How come what could seem like a fabulous, amazing and perfect opportunity turns upside down, becomes complicated and almost unbearable?  You know the times where you look back at certain situations and wonder what the heck just happened and how on earth did you end up in the mess that lay before you?  At times you wonder if you are the living example of pure chaos in some areas of life but have no idea how you got there or what to do about it.

In life it is impossible to avoid drama, tragedy, over analysing or chaos completely and to think you will have a 100% consistently smooth life you will be bitterly disappointed.  It is how you deal with this time that truly depicts the outcome of any situation, frequency of drama and ultimately enables you to be in control of the only thing you can be in life... yourself!!   

So what is occurring in these times of chaos and drama?  To be honest, there are so many different points of view and depending who you talk to their opinion will vary according to psychological, spiritual, metaphysical or personal experience.  For example, it is common in some new age spiritual approaches to say it is the “Ego” that creates sabotage, self righteousness, chaos and negativity.  And spirit that brings good and happiness into the world.  In this realm the “Ego” can be suggested as only a negative thing and a place that is not recommended to operate from.  However, in Freud’s approach to psychology the “Ego” is simply an aspect of the mind that evaluates and remembers information from the external world both positive and negative.  He describes it as the CEO that governs, controls and regulates the personality.  Some try to get rid of ego while others embrace it... neither are right or wrong of course and those who live by each principle will create different outcomes based on a basic aspect of psychology... their values!

“Square pegs don’t fit into round holes”

The simple way to describe values is to say that they are a subconscious hierarchy of things that are important to you.  They (accompanied by beliefs) are the driving force behind your decisions, behaviours and non-behaviours that determine your outcomes in life.  Some people are conscious of their values while others are oblivious to what they are and sometimes values can shift or change either over time or as a result of a significant life event.  Values are vital in relationship to your quality of life, so much so that when you are living by your true values your life becomes a lot smoother, consistent and easier to manage.  Some would call this living in your “Flow”.  Living according to your true values therefore enables you to be able to deal with the normal challenges of life more gracefully and powerfully whilst maintaining self control.  Are you wondering how this directly relates to living in the moment and “The Power of Now”?  It has been said that at times where we try to mould ourselves or change/adapt to external situations, other people’s wants for us or try to change to be like another person’s values we will naturally, subconsciously create chaos.  For example, in relationships (romantic, professional or friendships) rather than accepting one’s self or others wholly for the individuals you are, often people try to change themselves, adapt to the other person’s interests/opinions/expectations or expect others to do the same.  Sometimes situations and people simply are not a match but we try to force it to be right, change ourselves and put up with things that lower our self worth, self value and self esteem.  I believe that finding a balance and co-creating is very important but trying to change yourself or others will only end in tears, resentment and eventually a breakdown in the relationship.  It is possible for completely opposite sets of values to co-exist in harmony with the presence of acceptance, commitment to an outcome, communication of needs and understanding of self and others.  If you are a square peg trying to fit into a round hole and feel like you have lost yourself it’s important to place a positive meaning on your situation and maybe seek professional help, determine your true values and make gradual adjustments toward the life you truly want...It is all perfect and you are right where you need to be!

“Get out of your head and get into your life”

Have you ever heard of the term “Paralysis by analysis”?   Most often this concept is the by-product of subconscious fear of either failure, success, rejection or a myriad of things.  It can be when a person spends more time thinking or talking about something and going over and over in their mind about what it means, what to do, what not to do, what they should do and then asking their friends for their opinion.  This then  confuses the situation even more because your friends tell you what they would do and at the time you may not realise that your friends, although are trying to help, are only speaking from their own values, past experiences or some good self help book they read.  Which can of course be helpful at times but at other times it feels like your head is spinning and you now have 100 possible actions to take in your head plus the 20 others your friends kindly provided.  Fully loaded with options you then go ahead and either do something you look back and think was stupid or mull over it and do nothing at all. You wonder why some situations are a mess or you aren’t getting any results at all causing a spiral of frustration with yourself for not getting anywhere.  This then sends you into a state of self analysing and soul searching on how you can fix the situation or yourself so things will one day work out.  I think I am pretty safe to say we have all been there at some point, I know I most certainly have especially being slightly analytical by nature...it’s important to accept that it’s not right or wrong, it is a part of life. So what can you do about it?  This brings me back to getting to know your values and yourself.  It’s about trusting in your ability to express your true self in any given moment knowing that any decision you make or action you take is a learning experience and a step toward what you want regardless of the outcome.  It is about mindfulness, sitting in silence and asking yourself what it is that you want to do in a situation and going with a combination of your heart, intuition and rational mind.  I am not talking about a path to enlightenment as much as I am speaking of getting to know your wants, needs and desires to make clear decisions, commit to them and taking inspired action creating the results and outcomes you are working toward.  Success breeds success and those who reach their goals may fall down 4 times but they pick themselves up, dust themselves off and get up that 5^th time.

“Confusion precedes understanding”

This can sometimes be a difficult concept to grasp because times of confusion can be frustrating, debilitating and often feel like failure.  Consider for a moment that a time of confusion could simply be that you are not acting in alignment with your values and you are being shown that in the form of undesired results or outcomes.  It is important to embrace this inevitable concept with open arms and accept that you are being shown something about yourself and your life.  Keep it very simple and see it for the opportunity it is to learn what you want or don’t want in life, look within yourself for an answer and action plan based on your heart, intuition and rational mind which in combination are a wonderful formula for inspiration.  Take action with confidence, power and the willingness to deal with things both positive and negative as they arise.  I believe it is better to have put yourself out there and taken a risk than to live a life wondering ‘what if?’.

“Accept the things you cannot change and have the courage to change the things you can”

All you can do is your best to be self aware and recognise times where you may need to withdraw a little, deal with challenges, be silent and re-focus on the things that are important to you.  Let go of the need to change others or external circumstances and place your focus on living the best life you possibly can from within.  Running away in your mind can cause separation from others therefore loneliness and dissociation from reality.  Wherever you go, you are still there!!  Getting into your heart and soul to the place of love and gratitude is a journey and takes commitment and an extraordinary amount of acceptance of yourself and others.  You may need to let go of some people and things that are not healthy for you and there are other people and things that you may want to draw more into your life.  It is a constant never ending evolving journey and it is important to just “BE”.... followed by “DO” then “HAVE”...