Do! Or Do Not! Ego doesn't like decisions!
It seems I come back to certain things often, and this is really important to me. Maybe only to me? Living in the present and worrying about the past and future. I was reading “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle (a huge influence) this morning just before breakfast and he says that the ego masks the present moment by overwhelming the mind with past and future concerns. Well said. Ego is afraid of the present and cannot operate in the now. It is important for the ego to cause worry about the past and anxiety about the future. This keeps the mind occupied and upset, exactly what ego wants. Ego diminishes when we are living in the present. I am seeing this personally. Often concepts are just that-concepts, and are not utilized or living in our daily lives, but this one is now becoming active in my own life. I see friends and acquaintances who live in the chosen “worry of the future” and “what might happen” syndrome. They can do little or nothing about it, but this doesn’t slow down their angst about what is coming down the pipe. I may have been that way myself, but never terribly so, and much less now. At any given moment I try to see where I am and what I need to do, or what I actually can do, and tell myself that that is enough. For right now, that is enough. No more. If I am driving my car across town can I do anything about global warming, much less making sure my son is studying for his college test in algebra? Nope. I can only drive. I can think about driving carefully, and I can use the time to take a quick inventory of what I need to get done in the next time span (day, week, hour?) and when I’m up to date I can let it go, trusting my higher self to remind me when necessary. But right now I am driving and only driving. This is where we get caught up. Trying to do too many things at once. There is no such thing as multitasking, not really. If we have three or four things going on we still concentrate on one at a time, though we may be switching back and forth often. Still it is one at a time. At least our concentration is focused on one. We can walk and chew gum (well some of us, anyway) at the same time, but those things need little concentration. The focus may be on the walking, but the gum is below conscious level. It is the focus that matters. If we are not thinking about walking we actually miss the trip itself. We are suddenly there. No real concept of the journey to there. We have missed a moment of life.
Another topic that has been floating around the front of my tiny brain the last couple days is the phrase “Do. Or do not.” This could also be said as, “Do. Or not do.” Basic human response to virtually everything. I’ve been wondering about the value of talk. How does talk fit in? In this world talk is often called “cheap” and is looked on at being of little value in the scheme of things. In many cases I would agree. Many times we talk about something or other but do little or nothing about it. Sometimes there is nothing to be done, naturally, but many times something can be done in some way. That is where I want to shout Do! Or Do Not! Those are the choices. Talking on and on about what you are going to do may be necessary to build up the courage to make an actual move, but then to remain inactive, yet want to talk more, and when the topic and pros and cons are repeated over and over it is time to Do or Do Not!. There comes a point where those around us are just tired of the talk and discussions that lead nowhere. Do. Or Do Not. One or the other, stop living in between! Those are the possibilities. It is very freeing to make the first steps. Once an action or thought is put into movement it draws in more energy, and often when the task is completed we wonder why we waited (and talked about it) for so long! There is a hesitancy in us to stall and wait just a bit longer for something to change. We say we need certain conditions to line up properly, then we can make the move. We can also wait forever. No, we shouldn't jump into some crazy scheme that uproots everything in our lives without proper preparation, but when the preparation goes on and on and on for months, or years, well time to Do not! Drop it, your ego wants you to keep toying with something you will never do, unless for some reason or other you are forced into action. At this point ego will look for other fears and worries to torment you with. It becomes time to examine truthfully whether we will make a change or not. This can only be accomplished by going into Spirit and out of ego. Ego wants us to stay static and continue to do nothing, yet worry, worry, worry. Deciding one way or the other can reduce or eliminate the egoic worry. Do. Or do not. Simple? Yes and no. Difficult? Sometimes. If you truly live in the present it becomes easier.
It seems I come back to certain things often, and this is really important to me. Maybe only to me? Living in the present and worrying about the past and future. I was reading “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle (a huge influence) this morning just before breakfast and he says that the ego masks the present moment by overwhelming the mind with past and future concerns. Well said. Ego is afraid of the present and cannot operate in the now. It is important for the ego to cause worry about the past and anxiety about the future. This keeps the mind occupied and upset, exactly what ego wants. Ego diminishes when we are living in the present. I am seeing this personally. Often concepts are just that-concepts, and are not utilized or living in our daily lives, but this one is now becoming active in my own life. I see friends and acquaintances who live in the chosen “worry of the future” and “what might happen” syndrome. They can do little or nothing about it, but this doesn’t slow down their angst about what is coming down the pipe. I may have been that way myself, but never terribly so, and much less now. At any given moment I try to see where I am and what I need to do, or what I actually can do, and tell myself that that is enough. For right now, that is enough. No more. If I am driving my car across town can I do anything about global warming, much less making sure my son is studying for his college test in algebra? Nope. I can only drive. I can think about driving carefully, and I can use the time to take a quick inventory of what I need to get done in the next time span (day, week, hour?) and when I’m up to date I can let it go, trusting my higher self to remind me when necessary. But right now I am driving and only driving. This is where we get caught up. Trying to do too many things at once. There is no such thing as multitasking, not really. If we have three or four things going on we still concentrate on one at a time, though we may be switching back and forth often. Still it is one at a time. At least our concentration is focused on one. We can walk and chew gum (well some of us, anyway) at the same time, but those things need little concentration. The focus may be on the walking, but the gum is below conscious level. It is the focus that matters. If we are not thinking about walking we actually miss the trip itself. We are suddenly there. No real concept of the journey to there. We have missed a moment of life.
Another topic that has been floating around the front of my tiny brain the last couple days is the phrase “Do. Or do not.” This could also be said as, “Do. Or not do.” Basic human response to virtually everything. I’ve been wondering about the value of talk. How does talk fit in? In this world talk is often called “cheap” and is looked on at being of little value in the scheme of things. In many cases I would agree. Many times we talk about something or other but do little or nothing about it. Sometimes there is nothing to be done, naturally, but many times something can be done in some way. That is where I want to shout Do! Or Do Not! Those are the choices. Talking on and on about what you are going to do may be necessary to build up the courage to make an actual move, but then to remain inactive, yet want to talk more, and when the topic and pros and cons are repeated over and over it is time to Do or Do Not!. There comes a point where those around us are just tired of the talk and discussions that lead nowhere. Do. Or Do Not. One or the other, stop living in between! Those are the possibilities. It is very freeing to make the first steps. Once an action or thought is put into movement it draws in more energy, and often when the task is completed we wonder why we waited (and talked about it) for so long! There is a hesitancy in us to stall and wait just a bit longer for something to change. We say we need certain conditions to line up properly, then we can make the move. We can also wait forever. No, we shouldn't jump into some crazy scheme that uproots everything in our lives without proper preparation, but when the preparation goes on and on and on for months, or years, well time to Do not! Drop it, your ego wants you to keep toying with something you will never do, unless for some reason or other you are forced into action. At this point ego will look for other fears and worries to torment you with. It becomes time to examine truthfully whether we will make a change or not. This can only be accomplished by going into Spirit and out of ego. Ego wants us to stay static and continue to do nothing, yet worry, worry, worry. Deciding one way or the other can reduce or eliminate the egoic worry. Do. Or do not. Simple? Yes and no. Difficult? Sometimes. If you truly live in the present it becomes easier.
