When we think of mindfulness,
When we think of spirituality,
And we think of meditation,
The word present often comes up,
Doesn't it?
Be present.
Come back to the present moment.
As simple and as beautiful as this may sound,
Let's be honest.
Why is this so hard?
Why is it so tough to become present?
There was a study done on 2000 adults and it found that 47% of the time,
We are not present.
We are not focused at the task at hand.
Our minds are wandering somewhere else.
And out of this 47%,
They also reported to be less happy than the ones that were present.
Have you ever read a book and noticed like five pages in,
You can't remember anything you just read?
Even though you're reading word for word,
You decided to read this book,
You picked it up,
You got comfortable on the couch,
Your mind was somewhere else.
You cannot remember what you just read.
But what could be better than the present moment that your mind would wander off like that?
All right.
Well,
Technically nothing is better than the present moment,
But most likely our mind is wandering into the past,
Right?
Thinking about our regrets and our traumas,
Or maybe we're in the future wandering,
Fearful of its uncertainties and what's to come.
So why would we choose to wander like this and be anywhere else versus the present moment?
Well,
For a lot of us and a lot of the times,
The present moment isn't exactly the place we want to be right now.
That's why it's so easy for the mind to wander off.
It's escaping our present moment.
We're not happy here.
We're not happy where we are in life.
We look around and we feel depleted or a lack of energy,
A lack of passion.
And I think maybe our basic human necessities aren't being met like expression,
Right?
Creativity,
Love.
And you might've thought I was going to say food,
Water,
Or money,
Right?
And yes,
These are necessities,
But our happiness comes from spirit.
And for our spiritual self,
Our emotional self,
Right?
To be happy,
Expression is key.
Creativity is key.
Love is key,
Right?
Because we already know our highest form of nutrition is going to be in our expression.
Let me say that again,
Our highest form of nutrition is in our expression.
So I think we need to start prioritizing what our soul wants to do.
We need to prioritize our expression.
The ideas we have,
We keep them in storage,
But we need to prioritize unpacking these and bringing them into life.
This is the key to being present.
When we become so engaged in the present moment,
Expressing our love into something,
We do not wander into fear because we are rooted and present,
Right?
Sometimes we're questioning why meditation hasn't worked for us,
Why we haven't reached that sound mind or why all the healthy eating hasn't really completely worked for us.
We still have these anxieties,
But how do you show up for yourself every day when it comes to your passions,
Right?
When it comes to that gift that was coded into your DNA,
Are you expressing yourself,
Right?
Or do you tell yourself tomorrow is a better day or better yet next week is a better time because I'm busy right now.
But today is the day,
You understand?
Imagine telling yourself today is not a good day to eat.
You're too busy,
So next week you'll eat.
But you would starve and you know that,
My friend,
Right?
And you may be starving yourself from being happy in the present moment.
What makes you happy?
What feels good?
This shouldn't be a difficult answer.
It's not a difficult question.
Integrate these things into your day every day,
Even if it only means 30 minutes.
We have limitations in life,
But when we work with these limitations,
They start to expand.
But we have to start somewhere.
When we are nourished on a deep spiritual and emotional level,
You will find that being present is a lot easier because the present moment is the place to be.
It's the hotspot.
There's no time to be in the past.
We don't want to be in the future because we are loving the life we are living,
Living the life that we love.
This is when we can bring our mindful practices into our day and to our life and we can receive the most out of them because now we are more engaged with them because we are coming full in spirit,
Right?
We start to appreciate life in its simplicities and the complex nature as well because we are living a deep,
Meaningful life already on the inside.
Our external environment reveals the gates of heaven to us,
Right?
You know,
You thought heaven was a place after life,
But well,
I believe heaven is on earth as well.
You know,
I think our eyes,
You know,
Our ears,
Our mouth,
I think like these are gates,
Right?
Possibly gates to heaven,
Right?
Because I believe heaven is on the inside as well.
And the things we allow into these gates will nurture our behavior or damage our nature.
What are you looking at every day,
Right?
What are you feeding your eyes?
When you go online,
Do you feed yourself inspiring images,
Beautiful aesthetics,
Right?
What are you looking at?
Or are you allowing toxic imagery,
Negativity into that gate?
Same thing goes with what we're listening to.
What are the words you're listening to?
What are the things you're saying to yourself?
These things that come into our existence develop our inner nature.
They nurture our behavior or they'll damage our nature.
So if our inner environment isn't a beautiful place to be,
Every time we become present,
We're going to run away,
Right?
Because the present moment isn't a place to be.
And we find ourselves in the past or in the future,
Simply escaping ourselves altogether.
And that's where anxiety and worry and pain and fear comes from.
I think when we become conscious of how we're feeding our senses as well,
Right?
This world is full of so much beauty,
Right?
More beauty than negativity.
I know it may be hard to believe,
But sometimes the beauty is hidden amongst all the distractions and you have to discover it to create your ideal environment to flourish in.
But discovery is a journey.
So enjoy the journey.
Become present in the journey,
Right?
I think this year we are making the present moment the place to be.
It's the hotspot.
It's the cool spot.
It's popping,
Right?
When we're here,
When we're present,
We don't want to be anywhere else because we've created a beautiful environment inside and out and we're loving it,
Right?
You don't know in hindsight everything,
Go and be all right.
It's a vibe thing.
Thank you for tuning in with me.
Thank you.
