“So give up waiting as a state of mind. When you catch yourself slipping into waiting . . . snap out of it. Come into the present moment. Just be, and enjoy being. If you are present, there is never any need for you to wait for anything. So next time somebody says, “Sorry to have kept you waiting,” you can reply, “That’s all right, I wasn’t waiting. I was just standing” – Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now
I’m a big fan of Eckhart Tolle’s book, The Power of Now. Even more of a fan of the audio version where his gentle voice brings me into the present moment every time I listen. All my life I’ve always looked ahead (and spent too much time focused on my past). My practice this year has been to embrace the present moment.
But how do you plan for the future if you want to stay in the now? I finally discovered the answer in an interview Eckhart did with Oprah. He explained that you need to set aside a specific time to plan – this preset moment is my planning time. Don’t let future plans and your to do list run through your head while walking, or when you’re eating, and especially not when you’re trying to get to sleep.
I’m getting tested this week to see how much I’ve learned to let go of trying to control the future. I have a flight booked back to the US for a three week visit on Tuesday, July 19th. But our residency cards still haven’t arrived in the mail. Basically we can’t fly without them. So every day that passes the odds of getting on that flight get less and less. Even if they arrive in the mail on Monday I’ll be ready to get on that plane at 6 AM Tuesday morning. I have plans with friends all arranged and the thought of missing out on the fun makes me a bit crazy. Until I remember to come back this moment and let go of the future.
So I check the mail only once a day. I release the outcome of whether I can get on the flight. I give up control. I enjoy today, this day, the one where the sun has come out and it’s finally warm, and there’s a smell of fresh cut grass in the still foggy air, and the birds are singing a happy song, and I am where I am doing what I want to be doing, with whom I want to be doing it with, and this moment is all that matters.
