The Language of Letting Go: February 21st

Living in the Present

The present moment is all we have. Yes, we have plans and goals, a vision for tomorrow. But now is the only time we possess. And it is enough.

We can clear our mind of the residue of yesterday. We can clear our mind of fears of tomorrow. We can be present, now. We can make ourselves available to this moment, this day. It is by being fully present now that we reach the fullness of tomorrow.

Have no fear, child, a voice whispers. Have no regrets. Relinquish your resentments. Let Me take your pain. All you have is the present moment. Be still. Be here Trust.

All you have is now. It is enough.

Today, I will affirm that all is well around me, when all is well within. 

From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©1990, Hazelden Foundation.

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Living in the past is Depression; living in the future is Anxiety. All I have is NOW; this present moment, where nothing is wrong, and where I cannot project what WILL be wrong later on.

Living in the present moment is difficult for addictive personalities; we tend to live in the extremes, and we can't do that if we are grounded in the NOW. How can we worry? How can we wring our hands, mulling over the various outcomes to an imagined problem, trying to cope with those situations that aren't even REAL? We can justify using when we're worrying.............we can justify taking that first compulsive bite or that first drink or that first fill-in-the-blank, because, after all, we are UPSET.  It's time to ask WHY? What is upsetting us and what can we do to remove that unnecessary worry from our mind? What action can we take right NOW that will insure our successful abstinence? Is there some trigger food we need to remove from the fridge or the pantry?

What I do when something is worrying me is this:I lie down on my bed and pop in a pair of earplugs. I close my eyes and begin to concentrate of my breathing; each inhalation, and each exhalation, recognizing the life force that is present within me.  Then I ask myself a question: What is wrong at this very moment? The answer is ALWAYS "nothing".  Because nothing IS ever wrong at any given moment in time; the problem I'm worrying on has either passed by or looms ahead in the future.

Right now, at this moment in time, NOTHING IS WRONG.

I allow myself to absorb that fact and to calm down.

All I have is now. It is enough. It is, in fact, perfectly fine.