The Acceptance of Now

The perfect state is the acceptance of now. Eckhart Tolle.

How do we stay in the moment? In the now? How do we stop seeking nirvana rather than accepting it is in every moment of everything we do? Why do we believe there is more? Why are our brains programmed to believe in the next moment, and the next moment rather than in the moment that we are in. Because at the end of the day this moment is all that we have.

This moment is our gift of time. It is our gift from the Universe. Our ability to be. Peaceful and serene. Last night I was driving home and my mind was racing. Thought bombarding other thoughts. Like there was an urgency for me to find my life purpose. Filling me with dread that if I don’t find it soon, I will live a life of discontent. That I would fail at life. And as I started to feel sorry for myself, something told me to look outside. To stop closing myself in. To look out the window.

And so I looked outside and immediately my spirit lifted. The day was giving way to night. The light was twilight and mysterious. The remnants of the sun giving off hints of its light as it was fading away to the other hemisphere. Letting me know there is always light somewhere. Always. It just moves from one hemisphere to the next. When I am experiencing darkness, someone is experiencing light. And when I am basking in the light, someone is welcoming the darkness. Light and darkness always shift. Always. So if we linger in one, we will lose out on the benefits of the other. If we don’t appreciate the light when we have it we will never be grateful for it until we are shrouded in darkness.

My whole being felt lighter allowing me to see the true beauty in the darkening sky. The shape of the clouds. Their varying shades of grey against the twilight sky. And then I smiled from the inside out because I knew I was being told by the Universe that my state of uncertainty is only temporary because I am being prepared for something greater. And as long as I am patient and remember to live in the present moment, remain open, without judgement, surrender to the Divine Plan, all will work out in the end. There is no need to panic. No need to feel like a failure. No need to rush what is not ready for me yet. It will all unfold when the time is right.

And then I breathed. Inhaling for a long time. Exhaling for a long time. And said a silent thank you to the Universe for once again guiding me. Allowing me to understand I am a part of a much bigger whole. Each person and thing has a purpose here and in time that purpose is revealed as long as we remember “the perfect state of being is the acceptance of now.”