Something Even Better than Time Travel | VictorSchueller.com

“Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has yet to come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering” ~Ida Scott Taylor

I know I’ve been guilty of time travel.

“Guilty?” you may ask?

Yes, guilty.

That’s right…Time travel.  Don’t think you haven’t done it either.  We all do it.

Now, I understand that you may be thoroughly confused at this point, because, as far as you know, you believe that we are not capable of traveling through time.  I’ll be happy to help you do some time travel right now!  Ready?

Think back to your most fond birthday memory.  Where was it?  Who was there?  What was so special about it?

Think back to a memory of your mother.  Think back to a memory of your father.  What are the memories?  Where did they occur?  Why are they so special?

Our minds are virtual entities.  They are not harnessed by time or space.  Think of the internet.  Where does it exist?  It’s virtual.  When does it exist?  It exists now, in the future, and in the past, all at the same time.  Our minds are the same way.  They are capable of transcending and existing outside of the normal constraints of time and space.

While time travel is wonderful for doing the exercises that I asked you to complete above, time travel can also be counter-productive.  I’m not going to ask you, because I know the examples come easily enough, to think of instances where you were hurt or made regrettable decisions in the past.  We all can look back at how we lived and what we did and let that hurt come back to bother us — to stir our emotions — to essentially re-live the pain.

While we store these painful emotions to help us make better decisions for the future, they serve little other productive purpose.

Similarly, no doubt you have something weighing on your mind that lies ahead for you in the future.  Perhaps it’s financial, physical, emotional, or work related.  Maybe you’ve got a date on the calendar or a task on a “to do” list that keeps staring at you, and every time you think about it, all it does is stir up emotions of anxiety and worry.

It’s time to stop suffering the effects of time travel.  Why worry about mistakes and hurt from the past, and why be anxious over a future that does yet not exist?  To render yourself powerless, especially to the future, is to accept and admit that you are powerless to influence the events that are yet to come!

The other major side effect of time travel is that it robs us of the wonderful gifts that exist right before us, but we’re too busy worrying or obsessing to recognize them.  We don’t exist in the present!  We live in the past and the future, and we ignore the here and now!

Last week I took my daughters to a local children’s museum.  I just reveled in watching them as they explored and played together, because I was fully embracing the here and now.  I could have pulled out my phone and started checking Facebook or my emails, but I made a conscious effort to just enjoy the present.  How many more opportunities am I going to have to have my two daughters alone, ages three and (almost) seven, in the museum, and having a great time like I was?  How many?  None.  No more opportunities.  After that moment passes, it will be just a memory of the past.

The present moment, the here and now, is so powerful, so productive, so enlightening, so joyful, yet we ignore it for the sake of reliving the past and obsessing over the future.  

“The future creates the present against the backdrop of the past.” ~Lazaris

It’s so true…We can create beautiful a beautiful future by living in the here and now, and getting the most out of it — by making the conscious effort to enjoy the gift that it is.  We can create beautiful memories by harnessing the power of the here and now, and recognizing the wonderful present that we have given ourselves.  My memories of the time with my daughters last week will now be a fond memory — not a memory filled with sketchy details and interruptions to my checking of emails and Facebook account!

Take time to recognize the power of now!  Time travel can be wonderful for reminiscing, but even wonderful memories are no match for the beauty and sheer power of the experience of the present.  It’s time to stop travelling through time.  It’s time to simply enjoy “now.”

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