YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW

To be in the NOW is such a catchcry. We hear it at seminars and at our Yoga practice, we read about the importance of mindfulness and being “present”. It seems as though we have forgotten what it feels like to BE IN THE NOW.  Why is it seemingly so elusive?

Is today, so unappealing? Have we become like moths to a flame, always chasing the bright lights and looking for what’s next, whilst ignoring the beauty of what is right in front of us.

When we are not in the NOW we are potentially in chaos, or at best, not embracing the possibilities being presented today.

What if you were TODAY? How would you feel?  To be TODAY, in our busy, often unconscious lives, is possibly viewed as not enough.

TODAY gets a really raw deal!

Imagine if you will, that YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW meet in a coffee shop.

YESTERDAY............arrives really early

TODAY...................arrives on time

TOMORROW.........arrives really late

But eventually all 3 are together.

They exchange mundane pleasantries, commenting firstly on the weather

YESTERDAY says :         ..........the weather WAS  windy, blustery, and cool

TODAY says:                   .........the weather IS mild and still

TOMORROW says         .........the weather WILL be sunny and balmy

The conversation appears disjointed. Yet all of them are correct based on their view, their perception. It depends on where they are in their NOW.

It’s the same with self awareness. We may see ourselves in one light, but is that how we are received by others?

YESTERDAY clears its throat and announces with  passion:

“I am the memories of peoples past. They can be clear and accurate or distorted and lament filled. The unfulfilled longings and yet, in the same breath, the illustrious triumphs. I am the shame of the unguarded tongue, and the guardian of the loving whisper. I can be the master of deception and illusion and the also the mistress of the precious gems of Life. I can be the “if only” and the “I wish I had”. I am what cannot be undone, only redone.

TOMORROW jumped in immediately, shouldering TODAY to one side.

“I am the dreams yet to be realised, the fantasy yet to be unveiled. I am the harbinger of possibility and the illusionist of immortality. I offer hope and dreams.  I am mystical and mysterious. I am the visionary with limitless imagination and the nagging night time thought of “what if” and “imagine when”.

TODAY sat quietly. Shrinking slightly. What grandiosity could it inject into its forgettable self?  The proof of its unworthiness was there for all to see. Plainly and transparently. People didn’t want to be in TODAY, they were always revisiting YESTERDAY or dreaming of TOMORROW.

The other two were waiting for TODAY to extol its virtues. Waiting, waiting....

TODAY sat still.  It became present to itself. Gradually, thoughts began to form and then the words followed.

“I am the breath you are sucking up into your throat this very moment. I am your moving self and your resting self. I am every feeling and emotion that is running through your body now, every image that your eyes capture in millisecond flashes in 24 hours. I can be incomplete and wasted. Or full and productive. I am ALL you have right now, right here. From my platform you can leap into tomorrow or slide back to yesterday but all you find there are wishes or memories.

What you FEEL TODAY is honest, spontaneous and if permitted, healing. It’s the suppression of feelings, relegating them to a past memory or event or projecting them into some fanciful scenario into tomorrow that distorts them"

TODAY paused. Breathless with the joy that it had found its voice.

There followed a silence. Each day sitting in contemplation.

It was apparent that one could not exist without the other. Each had a role to play. They were jointly and severally important, one not greater than the other.

Life asks much of us. Challenges in health, career, finances, relationships, etc. All of it at times overwhelming and seemingly insurmountable. What to do?

Perhaps just by honouring TODAY you will find the space you need to navigate the memories of yesterday and the illusions of tomorrow with clarity.

Perhaps just doing TODAY as well as you can, is enough.

Be gentle with TODAY