The key to all mental health is to learn to live in the present moment. Right here and right now. Most of us live in our thoughts of what has yet to come or our memories of what has passed. This may have been one of the things that Jesus Christ was talking about when he said “the Kingdom is at hand.” He didn’t say the Kingdom was in our yesterday or one hour ago and He wasn’t telling the people to wait until tomorrow for the Kingdom. He said “the Kingdom is at hand.” Right here and right now - in the present moment.

Let’s explore this Truth revealing concept.

Life is a gift - isn't it? We did not earn it - did we? Did we do something special to deserve it? Did we - ourselves - create life? The answer is, “no, we did not.” Life is a gift. A wonderful, miraculous, precious, priceless, magnificent gift.

Many of us who have experienced chronic physical, psychological or emotional pain might, however, argue that the gift of life could better be described as a curse. For us life has seemed at times to be an insurmountable struggle, a torturous task, a thick and never ending fog. We have felt like we are sinking in a sea of quicksand, calling and reaching for help only to discover again and again that no one seems to be able to hear our hearts haunting cries. We can’t seem to find a way out or the joy that is usually associated with the word “gift.” For many of us life has seemed, at times, like an awful curse. A cruel and callus joke.

BLESSING OR CURSE

In my own experience I most certainly considered my panic disorder, for quite some time, to be a great curse. It was only in the process of recovery that I discovered - much to my amazement - that my panic disorder was one of the greatest blessings of my life.

How can this be? Panic disorder was my road to peace. Albeit a bit of a rocky road but nevertheless panic was my road to peace. That’s right - panic led me to peace. And peace has led me to experience great happiness again and again and again.

Let me tell you how.

THE PRESENT MOMENT

I shall now make a bold assertion. The only place that life truly exists is in the present moment. It does not exist in the past - the past is gone, and it does not exist in the future - the future hasn’t yet arrived. Let me repeat - The only place that life truly exists is in the present moment. The present moment. With a little word-play we will call this “the present.” The gift. The gift of life.

It’s true. The past, no matter if it is one thousand years ago or one split second ago, is gone. Forever - kaput. It only “exists” as a memory. It is not “alive” any more. It may “seem” alive in your mind but that is your minds imagination, it’s memory - not life. The future, too, only exists in your mind - in it’s ability to imagine what might be. The true “future” has not - and never will - arrive.

“Of course the future will arrive and don’t try to tell me it won’t either.” - you say.

The only way that the “future” will ever arrive is when it mysteriously becomes the present moment. And the present moment will always be somewhat different that the future we imagined - or the pictures that we have painted in our mind. Therefore the future will never arrive. All that the future is and ever will be is some whirling and swirling ideas that each of us have created in our minds about what we think will and won’t happen in our lives.

Many of us tend to live in the future. That is to say - we spend most of our time thinking, planning and imagining what is to come instead of being wide awake - or alert and aware of - our immediate surroundings. We build all kinds of possible sceneries in our minds - like non-stop movies - about the way that we think that things will work out. We fool ourselves into thinking that if we don’t keep tabs on the future, we will somehow be in danger, or “miss out” - not realizing that the only thing we are in danger of missing out on - is life.

Life does not exist inside of our minds little movie. Ideas that we create exist inside of our minds. Some people get so caught up in “living” there imagined life inside of their minds that they get severely stressed out about things that haven’t even happened. And maybe never will.

Have you ever planned to go out for a big dinner party - maybe a birthday party - only to be disappointed with the way that the party turned out. That disappointment is because you had preconceived expectations about how you thought it was supposed to turn out. You had painted pictures even filmed movies inside of your head and when the night began to unfold a a less desirable way than you had scripted - you were naturally disappointed.

You see, you had been living in your thoughts about the future. Instead of just experiencing the present moment you tried to live life in your mind, to make it conform to your own expectations. When that didn’t work out you were left feeling empty and disappointed. Try to see this important Truth about how we create our own anxiety by painting mental pictures of a future that has not yet become a reality. If you can see this then you can begin to see how by learning to control our thoughts about the future - we will begin to control our moods, emotions, anxiety and yes, we will find peace.

Remember this one important and great Truth. You cannot control life. Many have tried. All have failed. Oh yes, sometimes you can influence certain events but you cannot be absolutely sure that they will unfold according to your wishes. Therefore, you can not control life.

“I think I know what you are saying - but I still think that I can control some things.”

While it may appear at times that we do control things, in truth, we do not. We can never be absolutely certain of how the future will turn out. You can say for example that “no matter what I am going to drive to the ocean and play in the waves tomorrow.” You may even be willing to drive there and play in the water if there is a freak blizzard with temperatures of sixty below zero. You may even go to the ocean if you have a fever of 103. However, a million and one things could happen to prevent you from going to the beach that are totally out of your control such as: Your car breaks down, you have a heart attack, world war three breaks out, etc... You can not be absolutely sure of the future therefore you can not control life.

We spend far too much time thinking about the possibilities of life and far to little time living the only place that True life exists - the present. When we do finally open our eyes to the life that is unfolding right before us, we start to become aware of the many miracles unfolding all around us.

PEACE IN THE PRESENT

Peace exists only in the present moment. And if you want to be happy, happiness is only found in the present moment. The word happiness comes from the word happen. By its own definition happiness can only happen in the “ right now.” And again right now. And yet again right now. Happiness never happens “then.” It may have happened then or it may happen again but happiness or the state of being happy can only happen in the here and now. The present moment.

It’s no small wonder that so many people are unhappy, anxious or depressed. They are always thinking about and dreaming about being happy sometime in the future or the past and never wake up to the realization that they are missing out on their only chance - now.

If it is your wish to be happy you must be in the present moment.

It’s true. You cannot be in the future. You can only be in the present moment as to “be” is a state of “being” which implies that you are alive - here and now. Furthermore, since happiness comes from the word happen you cannot force happiness. It must indeed, happen to you. Quite simply put happiness is something that happens to you. And in order to be happy you must be awake to the here and now.

We, as human beings, were created to “be” fully awake to the present moment. Maybe that is why human beings are happier than human doings.

THE PAST

The same philosophy holds true for “living” in the past. You can not live in the past. You can, however, waste your whole life trying to live in the past. Or dwelling on the past. Many people become deeply sad, angered, frustrated or depressed, by dwelling on negative past events. They “relive” old situations as if they were happening today. They don’t let bygones go by. Weather an upsetting event occurred ten years ago or ten minutes ago the truth is that it has passed. It no longer exists. Only in your memory is it kept “alive” by thinking about it or replaying it over and over again.

When you are in the present moment, the right here and now, it is impossible to be a prisoner to the pain of your past. That is because when you are living in the present moment, you are free from thought and fully alive and awake to what is real.

The present. I love that word because it means both “being here and now” and it means a “gift.” I said earlier that panic disorder was one of my greatest blessings. That is because if it were not for panic I may have never learned about waking up to the present moment. I may have just wandered through my entire life as many people do - half asleep - nothing devastatingly wrong, but never getting an opportunity to discover in its fullness the here and now the present moment.

That would have been the true travesty of my life - not panic disorder. No my anxiety challenges have truly led me (or pushed me) down the road to discover peace and - at the risk of sounding too gooshy - happiness.

YOUR DESTINY

Come alive to the present moment and come alive to your true self - come alive to who you were destined to be. Wise men and women throughout history have known this great mystery. Jesus Christ spent much of his ministry trying to point people toward the here and now and even Buddha put the utmost emphasis on being in the present moment.

The kingdom is at hand. Seek it first and let everything else come after.

Now it’s your time to discover this great treasure, this great gift called Life. Pursue it and you will be eternally grateful. Seek it and you will never look at life the same way again. The present moment...at all costs.... pursue the present.