Today and Yesterday: A Thanksgiving Challenge

The mystics and wise people of today and yesterday often speak of the now.  Admittedly, I have found myself annoyed by this concept in the past.  I agree, that a clear mind brings you into the now, but no one was ever really explaining how to get a clear mind...or what a clear mind was.  I practiced meditation, yoga, read books, found time to be surrounded by nature, observed my kids...all were sometimes beneficial, but I still felt uncertain.  Then I learned of Mr. Sydney Banks: 

"When such people refer to the now, they mean the personal mind is free from the contaminants of yesterday's memories and fears...In clearing our minds, we may have to give up something to receive something."

And, of course, Dr. Roger Mills:

"If we dwell on the past, these thoughts become our outlook, our self esteem, our self-image, now.  Negative thoughts from the past only harm us when we allow them to create interference.  Drop the attachment to ingrained habits of thinking."

Like all wise souls, these two spoke of the same thing, and even completed the others statements. For me, what they did is offer me clarity and the realization that I am in total control of my experience.  At first this information is scary, and I admit that I took baby steps initially.  I only allowed myself so much enlightenment at a time!  It quickly became clear to me that I must take a real leap of faith...and then another, and another...if my goal was harmony, well being, peace of mind, fabulous parenting, etc.

In my life, dropping my ingrained thinking involved the idea of forgiveness and even empathy for people who had hurt me in the past.  I did it (and continue to do so) quite naturally and with ease and even grace at times!  This happened, because I know that my negative thinking and fixed grip on the past only hurts me.  It makes me miss what is real right now & it makes me feel upset regardless of what is true now. 

Dropping old thinking also required me to take full responsibility for my experience in life.  I simply cannot be hurt by people in the same way that I was before I understood my own thinking.  I so much more quickly, find my wisdom and am able to have a new perspective.  My ways of functioning yesterday are not good enough today. 

Ask yourself how often you spend each day thinking about hardships of the past or calling up old memories that are hard to tolerate?  How often does this type of thinking allow you to create new fears or negativity for your future?  When was the last time you allowed your five senses to notice the now?

This Thanksgiving is a perfect opportunity to look around at what you are thankful for.  Take it all in...taste it, see it, smell it, feel it, hear it.  If you find yourself in thoughts from the past or worries of the future, simply remind yourself that you got here by your own thoughts...you trusted a thought you should have ignored.  Distract yourself, and zoom you'll be back to the now!