One of my favorite Zen stories is of the two monks who approached a stream and found an attractive young maiden standing there. It was too deep and running too fast for her to cross it. The elder of the two scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the other side then the monks continued their walk. After about an hour the younger monk turned to the elder and said, “How could you have touched that woman? You know we have taken a vow of celibacy and are not permitted to touch women.” “I put her down back at the stream,” he replied, “You’re still carrying her.”

I like the story because in too many instances in my life, I’ve “still been carrying her”. Golf is my most recent example. I hit the ball in the water on the fourth hole, the “Tin Cup” hole here at the Tubac Golf resort and on the sixth hole I’m still replaying it in my mind. Nothing more dramatically reminds me of the futility of living in the past than episodes like that. I’ve also found myself thinking about lunch with two holes to play.

The Ghost of Christmas Present (of course!)

So, in the first case I’m living in the past in the second case I’m living in the future and there is no savoring of the moment in either case. So obviously I’m missing the opportunity to experience quality, excellence and aliveness in the present when I am somewhere else.

Being in the here and now and fully experiencing the present moment is a worthwhile ambition for all of us who aspire to quality living.
You probably can think of instances where you were not fully engaged in the present while doing some activity. If we’re at our job but mentally wishing we were some place else, we’ll not derive satisfaction from our work. If we’re at home with our families but worrying about what we didn’t get done at work that day, we shortchanging both our family and ourselves. I have to give credit to Don Crace, owner of the Dale Carnegie business in Washington and Oregon for a bit of wisdom that succinctly addresses this subject. Don said, “Where ever you are, be there.”

This being in the present is easily accomplished when one has found and is engaged in pursuing their purpose in life. I’ve dealt with this subject in depth in my book. I mentioned yesterday that we can learn from the experiences of our past but we can only take action in the now moment.

For me, for today, I’m going to take Don’s advice and live in the present moment. Why don’t you do the same?

Success thought for today:

“THE PRESENT IS THE PAST’S STUDENT AND THE FUTURE’S TEACHER.”
-Anonymous

Byron
byronethompson.com

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