Page 122 - Creeative Thinking

It is pretty simple, isn’t it? You’ll be surprised to see how easy it is to shift to the
“When… Then…” approach to life. You can use the worksheets on the following
pages to help you make this adjustment.

In addition to the above approach, living in the moment will help you stay grounded
and focused on that which is important in your life. Although you've heard this
expression numerous times throughout your life, you may find yourself wondering,
"what does living in the moment mean?" It's one of those straightforward concepts,
which is not so easily lived.

In order to fully understand this concept, spend today simply noticing how often you
are worrying about a coming event, or planning a future project. There are certain
times, of course, when we need to plan and think about the future. However, many of
us spend enormous amounts of time living in the future.

Now, take notice of every time you find yourself regretting or re-living something that
happened yesterday, last week, last month and so on. Those are moments when you
are living in the past.

So... what's so wrong with thinking about the past or the future? Nothing except that
with your thoughts go your feelings. Have you noticed that you can feel great and then
you remember that you have a yearly check-up at your doctor's office tomorrow and
suddenly you feel anxious and maybe even scared?

Maybe you are spending a nice day in the park with loved ones and then you recall a
sad moment from your own childhood and consequently, you begin to experience
feelings of sadness or loss.

Living in the past can often times colour even pleasant present day experiences. In
order to fully enjoy life in the here and now, we must learn to leave the past right
where it belongs. In the past!

If you want to try to find "the moment" in the midst of yesterdays and tomorrows its
not as hard as it may seem.

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