To all of life’s problems. It’s simple but apparently hard as hell. We have to live in the present moment, for God’s sake! I still struggle to stay in the here and now so I get it, but damnit.

If you think about it, is the past real? I mean, really. We have a perception and a feeling about it, but what’s real to us is more the story we create about ourselves based on our version of the past. Not helpful or true in most cases.

Is the future real? No. We have no freaking idea what the future holds. But, the present. This is where the magic happens. This is where we have the opportunity to experience gratitude, connection, and tap into our creativity. This is where we can access God’s flow.

Have you ever felt it? It’s that driving force that carries you through the day. You just keep doing the next right thing, and He fills you, guides you, clears the path for you. It’s crazy! I’ve experienced it, and I just want to live there. I want everyone to live there. It’s so powerful!

It’s where you keep moving even without all the answers and watch as the answers come right when you need them. There’s nothing like it for building faith and living gratefully. And, studies show that gratitude is directly linked to joy. 

I’ve been working with a woman for years who lives ashamed and fearful every day. She has a constant playback reel going in her mind of ways she’s manipulated or ways she wasn’t present for her husband or her kids. She’s continually fearful about God’s wrath on her and whether or not she’ll go to heaven.

The story is old & tired & completely unhelpful. With the utmost respect for the childhood story that started this habit of self-protection and fear of authority, I am a firm believer that she (and all of us) can be free of all of these debilitating thoughts and feelings. BUT, it requires living fully in the present moment, taking every thought captive and making it subject to Christ (the light), and actively thinking on what is lovely, pure, and praiseworthy.

She’s so stuck in this pattern, helping her is like the movie 50 First Dates where she needs to wake up and play a new recording telling her who she is and Whose she is in order to live with any semblance of peace. She can have it, but it will require staying in the present moment. The right now! Can anyone relate?

What’s the hustle here? The enemy of our soul wants to keep us distracted & living in some other timeline, so we can’t or won’t live to our fullest potential. Why do we need all the answers right now? This is actually an easy one for me. I love to control outcomes. I was hurt a lot and had to take care of myself at a young age, so I developed a pretty strong control mechanism.

In balance, this is great. Not how it worked for me, though. Now, I practice releasing control and just doing the next, right thing. I seek wisdom. I wait on things that are unclear (easier said than done). I move forward in faith that my good intentions will take me where I’m supposed to go. It’s a real kick in the ass! It’s a little like a roller coaster with all the exhilaration and sometimes a desire to puke, but it’s so beautiful and freeing. It’s really simple. It just isn’t easy.