What are you Growing?

It's hard to remember sometimes that we, human beings, are natural. Yes, we can do unnatural things -- or maybe "artificial things" is a better, less hostile way to put it :) -- but regardless of how we act sometimes, the truth that we're natural is something that can't be denied. Forgotten, avoided -- yes. But not denied. We're natural.

And because of this, one thing that we can always rely on to teach us things is nature itself.

After all, we ARE nature, right? So why not look to nature for insights on how things really work on this planet? Because, after all, nature has been around a long, long time -- and the last time I checked, trees and shrubs and mountains weren't spending time in therapy. So they must be doing some things right.

The first thing we can look at, as we curiously gaze at our natural relatives -- trees, grass, flowers, and so forth -- is that there is a latency period between when a process starts, and when so-called "results" are achieved.

In simpler terms: things take time. And what is planted today may not seem to "grow" for weeks, months or even years.

Of course, that growth is always happening. A seed planted today may not grow into a plant for weeks or months -- but that doesn't mean that it goes from a completely dormant seed to a "growing plant" when the stem appears to emerge from the earth. The growth is taking place from the moment the seed is planted; though we may not be able to detect this visually.

These days, we're relentlessly focused on results -- on outcomes. That isn't so bad (I guess...) EXCEPT when we stop to realize that this focus on results or outcomes is really quite...well, it's quite unreal.

In nature, there are no outcomes; no results.

Nature is NOT a results-driven experience.

It's a constant, continuum of progress. Sometimes, yes, we can "see" that process in the form of a flower or a plant. But all we're seeing is a part of the process. And, really, only a tiny, tiny part of it all.

There are things about you that you may want to change. If you focus entirely on results and outcomes, guess what? You won't get there. Results and outcomes are merely parts of a process that begins in the only place where change can happen.

Here, now.

The Future is Today

Most of us -- 99.9% of us -- make a kind of strange, life-changing "deal" with this thing called future. We say -- in many different ways -- that when something in the future happens, then we'll do something else. Perhaps it's a question of money, or of relationships, or anything else.

Basically, we make deals with life. And even stranger, we make deals with God -- as if God (and I'm not preaching here) is a kind of...well, a kind of thing on eBay that will be impressed by a good offer. As if we say to God "Okay, you won't give me the job I want if I merely donate 2 hours of my week to charity...what about 4? Okay final offer...6? 6.5 PLUS this amazing blender that slices, and dices, and chops carrots like you've never seen before..."

If you're offended by how absurd this all is, then good -- because it really IS this absurd. This is how millions of people live and communicate with life (or God or "the universe" or whatever). They try and broker and negotiate "terms."

It's all so...weird, really.

Life is simple. It's, in fact, far too simple for the human mind to accept -- because the mind really has no value in a simple world -- and so people make things wildly more complicated than they are; because complexity needs mind, and mind needs complexity.

You can't make a "deal" with the future, because, quite simply, there is no such thing as future.

Yeah, yeah, you can look at a calendar and say that a month from now is "future," but that's just really an organizing tactic -- something to add a shape to an otherwise essentially shapeless experience.

In reality -- and we all know this from ongoing personal experience (that we don't pay attention to!), there is no such thing as future. We've never "arrived" in the future. We aren't "moving ahead" towards tomorrow, we're always in the same place. ALWAYS. We are in the precise same place now as we were in our childhood, and where we'll be if we're lucky enough to make it another 20 years or 40 years or however many years "from now." Really, there is no from now. There's just this.

Right now. THIS.

THIS is your future.

And -- simply -- if you want to experience a better, more nourishing, more peaceful, more satisfying THIS, then you can't wait until the future "shows up" so you'll "show up." There is nothing to show up. The future isn't going to arrive -- it never arrives.

So if you want to start becoming more loving, more understanding, more compassionate, more empathetic, more giving, more YOURSELF, then here is the only advice you need: start now.

You can't start tomorrow. Not because you won't -- but because you can't.

Why wait until you're on your death bed to finally figure this out -- it'll be too late! Figure it out NOW and enjoy your precious life.

Weird, isn't it?

What's Wrong with the Present Moment?

There's a lot -- and I mean a lot -- of "talk" these days about this thing called the present moment. It's everywhere. On TV. In books. Workshops. Seminars. Blogs. Everywhere!

Of course, this isn't new at all -- the call to "the present moment" is an ancient as any spiritual teaching in the world. Of course, it used different terms, but the core concept was the same: surrender the past, ignore the future, and find yourself in the here and now.

Sounds easy huh?

So...

Why is it so difficult?

Really. What's the big deal about this? Why are so many people -- for sooooo long -- talking about this present moment thing? Why is it so hard to "be" in it? Why should something so simple occupy the teachings of so many people?

It's because of one core, essential, perennial concept: the mind cannot exist in the present moment. In fact, the present moment is death to the mind.

Ask yourself: is the struggle to enter the present moment really your struggle? Or is it your mind trying to keep you -- in a million different ways -- from experiencing the here and now?