A few years ago, I was driving home after a long day's work, wondering how one of my children had done in a school test. At the same time, I tried to remember whether the courgettes in the fridge were enough for a tart, mentally planned the next day's schedule, remembered I had to collect my daughter from a friend's house, and thought about a rainy night a few months earlier when another car had run a red light and I had crashed into it…
A red light came on in my mind: I realised I was not paying attention and wondered what mechanisms were disconnecting me from the present.
What is my present? What is your present right now? What are you seeing, hearing and feeling? What scents do you notice?
Over time I learned that the present is the only reality: being here. Most of us are disconnected from the present, remembering the past or thinking about what will happen. In this way, we miss fully experiencing what is actually happening.
Sometimes things in my present are not as I wish. I worry about the future, feel powerless as things simply happen, or remember better times in the past.
One day a man met a fortune-teller; they were travelling on the same train.
During the journey, the man asked what powers enabled the fortune-teller to predict the future.
The fortune-teller replied that he had never seen the future.
Good fortune-tellers do not see the future, because there is no single future: we all have a range of possibilities.
When someone consults me, I pay attention to their present, watching and listening carefully.
In their present they are planting the seeds that will germinate in their future.
I simply teach them to plant good seeds and care for them appropriately.
When we live in the present, we begin to use the power of now.
To live successfully and happily and achieve what you want, start connecting with now, with the wonderful gift of the present.
The past has already happened; the future has not arrived. The present is the only reality.
When we are truly focused and connected with the present, our abilities increase. Our mind becomes as powerful as a laser, enabling the actions needed to achieve the future we want.
Sometimes we dislike our present because we are thinking about how our current reality should be. We compare the present with what we believe should be happening, and this causes distress.
The first step is to accept what is happening, whether we like it or not.
If I have no job, I connect with that and accept it. If my relationship is not good, I notice how I feel and accept it.
The next step is to plan what I want. To reach another place, I first need to know clearly where I want to go. Otherwise I will end up anywhere. In NLP this is called setting a goal or desired state.
Once you have found a goal, return to where you are and identify the actions you need to take in the present to reach the desired state.
When we begin working in the present with the intention of improving our lives, we use the power of now. We leave the past behind, stop concentrating on the future, and simply live in the present, doing everything we can to improve our lives.
This sends a powerful message to our unconscious: we are here, focused on growing and moving forward.
To do this, we simply need to train our brain to connect with what is happening and how we can improve it.
Our unconscious strength thus becomes a powerful ally in enjoying and improving our lives and achieving our goals.
Mónica Lewin, Licensed Psychologist
Psychologist, Neuro-Linguistic Programming trainer, international coach and Gestalt therapist.
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