The Present Moment Holds the Key to Your Future

September 1, 2006 by Vishal | No Comments

To decide the next step to take, you need to know what your status is at present. The present holds the key to the future and dictates where you can go from where you are. It is essential that you not only understand the what, why, where, who of your life but also to accept them as it is. It is a step that will allow you to let go of the past and move purposely towards your defined goal. Lingering in the past can only bring out ghosts from the closet, which does not really help in anything other than creating a bad feeling about something that happened ages ago.

For a minute just imagine life as a mountain trek with your goal being the summit. You know that you can only reach the top by carving your path through rocks and stones, some of which can be loose and cause you to fall. You also realize that the best way to move forward is by settling in your current position securely before deciding where your next foot should be placed. At this time looking down towards the path that you have traversed and pondering on how you got yourself in this part of the mountain will only cause you to loose concentration. Looking at the other parts of the mountain which may seem easier to climb will distract you further and leave you feeling unmotivated and sorry for yourself. These distractions cause inaction and should be avoided at all times, whether it be a mountain climb or the climb towards your goal in life.

Focus without planning may also not hold you in good stead. If you try and move faster without contemplating on your next step, you may either loose hold and slip or land yourself in a path that is more difficult to go further on.

In this comparison, getting a stronghold on your current position is akin to knowing your current situation. Unless you internalize and accept what you are, where you are and what you have without any malice, ill feeling about the manner in which you reached here, you shall not be able to decide you next move in an intelligent manner. Be careful not to let the acceptance make you so complacent that you forget that there is a task ahead of you and a goal that you want to pursue. Forget the past and move on!

The manner in which you should approach life should be to be cognizant of the present and keep a back-of-the-mind focus on your overall task. Focus keenly on the small achievements that you need to make to move closer to your end goal. Every time you tend to slip into the memories of the past, tell yourself ‘this is what I am and where I am’. Talk to yourself and tell yourself that whining about what happened will not change things for the future and providing justifications for where and what you are to yourself will only initiate negative thoughts that hinder positive action. With this technique, the past shall soon become an obscure memory and slowly fade away.

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