Wishing Your Life Away

Getting out of bed and wishing it were already evening so you could relax. Working out at the gym, wishing you were already done, so you could have breakfast. Sitting in traffic and wishing you were already at work. Sitting at work, looking at the clock and wishing it were time to go home. Standing in line at the bank or supermarket and wishing you were already at the top of the line. Having dinner with the family and wishing it were already done so you could watch that new episode of the series you are following on TV. Thinking it's only Monday and wishing it were already Friday. Looking at the calendar and wishing it were already the month that you go on holidays. Lying on an idyllic beach and wishing it were already evening so you could go to that upscale night club after dinner. Lying on that idyllic beach and thinking that this afternoon is really going to be fun because of that trail ride you've booked.

You (me, and all the rest of us) wish your life away by having thoughts of this nature and other similar ones in any situation you can possibly imagine.

Why?

Because we are never (or rarely) in the present moment. We don't know how to stay there. We have no clue. Often we even flee from it. Or may be afraid of it. It implies being on our own at times, and it certainly implies knowing how to be in a quiet place inside ourselves.

What does being present really mean? Being here and now with all your senses, but most particularly with your thoughts. When your thoughts (or wishes) take you to another time in the past or particularly the future, you are literally wishing your life away.

Imagine sitting on a blanket in a field of late summer wild flowers with your young children and your spouse. Imagine thinking and worrying about work issues or problems. Imagine what such worry and stress does to your energy field and how that might impact on those who are with you. Imagine furthermore, having occasional thoughts about the awards dinner you will be attending that evening that fills you with pride, but also some trepidation. Now your energy field is even more confused and your feelings are also more muddled, as they have been impinged upon by so many thoughts that are not germane to the moment in which you find yourself. Why? Because you are not being present.

Being present in such a moment would mean some of the following:

• being filled with the wild aroma of the flowers surrounding you
• hearing the joy in your children's voices as they revel in being out there, and most particularly, in being out there with their parents
• it would mean hearing the buzz and murmur of insects as they fly about in your vicinity, and the soft sighs of the wind as it passes though the trees above you
• it would mean being aware of the presence of your partner in that moment, and being able to delight in words - unspoken or not - that pass between you two as you look at each other over the heads of your children
• being present would mean that you would not only be able to indulge in this activity yourself, but you would be fascinated by the interest with which your children observe the path of an ant through the stalks of grass, as it carries a crumb from the sandwiches you brought with you.

Such is being present. Such is living your life instead of wishing it away. Such is assuming mastery over your thoughts which leads to mastery over your emotions.

Please click on the labels below for more posts on these subjects.

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Books by Dr. Gabriella Kortsch


Note: If you are wondering why this blog is now only appearing on alternate days (excluding Sat/Sun), it is because I also post on my other blog on the others days. That other blog is The Tao of Spiritual Partnership, so named for another one of my books. Click here to visit the blog and/or to sign up for the feed.