Absolutely … you must live in the NOW if you want to have some peace.

Over my lifetime I had some vague feeling of how staying present helps. I did lots of martial arts interwoven with some Zen practice. I could feel I was making progress but it was not very definitive. I finally read The Power Of Now and came to a more explicit understanding.

Thoughts of the past can be filled with remorse of things not done or things done wrong. Thoughts of the future are about things that might happen that may not meet your expectations and cause anxiety.

And for me it is not about thoughts of the past and future but the content of those thoughts. It does take some discipline to stay in the now but just like exercising a muscle you can exercise your brain and change your thinking when you find remorse or anxiety in your thoughts. As Brian says, these things are in your head and most people can, with some practice, control them, at least to some degree.

This is from Oriah Mountain Dreamer:

“And I found that I can do it if I choose to — I can stay awake and let the sorrows of the world tear me apart and then allow the joys to put me back together different from before but whole once again.”

So when I discover I have gotten off track and I am chasing negative thoughts I remember that today right now I can reclaim the joy because I choose to reclaim it … it may be different than before but still joy.

Brian … thanks for your thoughts.