The Keys to Peace and Joy Part One - Living in the Moment

So are you out there?  I believe you are, but I haven't heard much from you in awhile.  I truly am so grateful for the comments I have received in the past because they have inspired me on what to post next or have helped me in my life.  But I would still really love your feedback.  Is what I am writing in my blog helpful to you?  Do you have a question or a concern that you would like me to address?  Do you have some experiences with the tools I have talked about that you could share?  Everyone's voice makes a difference!  As you share what is going on in your life, as you open up and are real with what you are dealing with, it helps others do the same and then we all heal together.  I really want to create an environment in my blog where everyone feels they can be open and share what they are thinking and feeling or things they are wondering about or have questions about.  I want you to feel that this is a safe place where you can ask questions and get the help you need.  I have made it possible for you to make a comment on this blog anonymously.  It will still be available for others to see and read, but your name doesn't have to be attached to it.  If you want to have a more private dialogue between you and me then feel free to email me and we can even set up a time where we talk over the phone.   Once again my email is rachellerchase@yahoo.com.  I truly want all of you out there to create peace and happiness in your life, but some of us need some assistance in order to make it happen.  I did.  I will be forever grateful to my mentor for his gentle guidance and counsel, for listening and helping me understand what I was thinking and feeling.  I want to be that source of help and guidance for you.  Please know I am here for you and feel free to contact me by email or leave a comment at the end of any post.  If you would like me to be your mentor, I would absolutely love to!  Send me an email.  I've been there and I just want to help you get from there to here too!!

So the big question is how right?  How do we do this?  How do we get from there to here?  How do we stay balanced, grounded and centered?  How do we keep ourselves from ping-ponging back and forth between "I'm not good enough" and "I'm better than"?  How do we find happiness, contentment, fulfillment, and peace in our crazy, busy lives?  I have already shared with you two keys to creating these things in your life.  Being aware and letting go.  These are necessary in order to access that peace and joy we so desperately want.  We have to recognize and then let go of the negative if we want to have room for the positive.  There are two other steps we need to take if we want this result.  I have touched on both of these topics in previous posts, but I wanted to talk about them more in depth.  In this post I want to talk about the concept of living in the moment.  So critical to having peace and joy!  In my next post, I will talk about humility, or in other words, knowing who we truly are.  Acting on these 4 keys will not only bring us peace and joy, but they will propel us into living a life full of passion and purpose.

This life really is about being at peace and happy.  Its what we all want and its what we all are searching so desperately to find.  But happiness isn't something we find outside of ourselves.  Its not a destination or a situation.  It is something we create from within ourselves.  Its a way of life.  I hate to be blunt, but the truth is that we cause our own unhappiness.  Sure people can be mean and do terrible, hurtful things to us.  Hard things do happen to us.  But the way we internalize, interpret, and react to those things is what brings joy or pain into our lives.  I love a phrase from a great song called Hall of Fame.  In it they say that we can "walk straight through hell with a smile."  I believe that is true.  No matter what our circumstances are, we can always choose to be happy.  I know that is hard for a lot of us to comprehend at this moment in time.  However, it is not only a possibility, but a reality.  And it can be something that comes naturally without our forced effort because having joy is part of our very nature.  When we are unhappy, it means that for some reason or another we are not being true to our nature.  We were created and sent here to earth to have joy.

Repeat of Favorite Scripture #3:

Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 2:25

Accessing this joy has a lot to do with where our minds are at whether it be the past, the present, or the future.  I related to you my experience in Hawaii of how I ping-ponged back and forth between the extremes of "I'm not good enough" and "I'm better than".  I wasn't happy and it showed in the way I acted towards my husband.  On the final day of my trip, I had an incredible experience.  My family and I were at the pool, some of us enjoying the sun and some of us enjoying the pool.  I took some time to just lay back in my lounge chair and relax.  I didn't listen to my music.  I didn't play Candy Crush.  And I didn't read my book.  I was just quiet.  I closed my eyes and let myself be completely in the present.  I listened to the waves crashing on the beach.  I felt the warmth of the sun on my body.  I listened to the Air Force jets flying over me in the sky.  I felt the breeze gently blowing around me.  I listened to kids playing in the water.  I noticed when clouds would pass over the sun and the light of the day would darken just a bit.  I listened to a conversation going on by those in the chairs beside me.  I listened to the music being played on the speakers throughout the resort and the birds singing in the trees.  I was quiet in my mind and completely focused on what was going on around me in that moment.

Favorite Quote #44:

There is never nothing going on.  There are no ordinary moments.

Peaceful Warrior

Every moment is rich with beauty and wonder.  I was thoroughly enjoying myself as I gave my full attention to what was happening in the moment.  I wasn't thinking about the past or the future.  I wasn't caught up in "I'm less than" or "I'm better than".  I was completely and totally living in the now and I felt complete and total peace and happiness.  I was so peaceful and calm in my mind that I fell asleep.  

This concept of being present and living in the now is a concept most philosophies and religions embrace.  Its the act of accepting and allowing what is because that is all we have.  Its the act of being grateful for what we have right now in this moment and leaving the rest up to God by trusting in His plan and in His omniscience.  Wayne Dyer, one of my favorite inspirational authors and speakers, says "Let go and let God."  Jesus Christ put it this way:

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin . . . .

Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

. . . for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.  Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Matthew 6: 28, 30-34 

If you pay attention to nature, you'll notice that nature does nature in the moment.  Lilies are just being lilies in the moment.  They are not trying to be a rose.  A horse is a horse of course, right in the moment.  Its not wishing it was still a young horse or worrying about becoming an old horse.  Its not thinking its less good looking than that horse or faster than that other horse.  Its just being what it was created to be in the moment, thus it is joyful and content.  When our attention is focused on seeking God and doing His will in the moment, then everything else will either fall into place or fall out of importance in our lives.  God will take care of our needs if we put him first.


Favorite Quote #45:

All negativity is caused by an accumulation of psychological time and denial of the present.  Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry - all forms of fear - are caused by too much future, and not enough presence.  Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness and all forms of nonforgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence.  Most people find it difficult to believe that a state of consciousness totally free of all negativity is possible.  And yet this is the liberated state to which all spiritual teachings point.  It is the promise of salvation, not in an illusory future but right here and now.

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

Favorite Quote #46:

There's an irony to this habit of letting your mind drift to other times and other places.  You can only drift off in the now, because now is all you ever get.  So drifting off is a way of using up your present moments.  You do indeed have a past, but not now!  And, yes, you have a future, but not now!  You can consume your now thoughts of "then" and "maybe," but that will keep you from the inner peace you could experience.

Wayne Dyer

Wayne Dyer then goes on to talk about doing exactly what I did in that moment in Hawaii.  

To practice living in the moment, stop and take notice of all that's in your immediate space - the people, animals, plants, the sky, buildings, everything.  Stay in the present by meditating and getting closer to the ultimate now . . . God.  The truth is that you can only come to know God when you give up the past and the future in your mind and merge totally into the now, because God is always here now.

I absolutely love the way he phrases that!  And that is the truth my friends.  I have experienced it for myself.  When we live in the now, we find God.  And when we find God, we find peace, happiness and contentment because He is the author of peace, happiness and contentment.  

Favorite Quote #47:

No God no peace.  Know God know peace.

This world is so noisy.  Noise surrounds us and distracts us in every moment.  But God is in the silence.  When we sit in silence, that is when God speaks to us.  When we are quiet in our minds, we will find God.  So meditate, pray, be quiet in your mind.  Stay in the now because in the now is where God is and where God is, peace is.  

I told my husband about the hard time I had had on the trip because of the conflicting thoughts in my mind.  He said he was so sorry that I had such a battle going on in my head.  He said that he just doesn't think that much.  His mind stays pretty quiet and he just lives and enjoys life for what it is as it comes.  My husband is a very happy, content individual.  In fact, one of the first things that attracted me to him was how happy he naturally was.  What amazed me was when I found out that he had lost a 2 day old baby brother and his father within a 6 month period when he was 13 years of age.  How easy would it have been for him to remain sad, bitter, and angry that God had let that happen?  Negative thoughts and feelings are easy to allow because of gravity.  Due to gravity, our negative thoughts and feelings quickly take us plummeting down that negative spiral.  Being positive in any difficult situation takes conscious effort and strength.  To be positive and trust in God's plan in a difficult situation is the harder choice because we are going against gravity.  My husband chose to be positive.  He chose happiness when it would have been so easy to choose misery and despair.  He made the decision to become better because of that experience and now people love to be around him because of his happy, positive nature.  He lives in the moment and because of that, in his opinion, life is good.  I also remember talking to my dad some time ago when I was in a difficult spot and I told him that I truly did not know how to be happy.  He lovingly replied that he didn't understand because he just lived and loved life for what it was and as it came to him.  Then at night, he would look back over his day thanking God for all the little but wonderful things that happened to him that day.  He told me that at his age (even though he is still quite young ;)), he was attending many funerals and had realized how precious life is and how quickly it can be taken from us.  He learned how important it was to embrace every moment for what it was and then to be grateful to God for even giving him that moment in the first place.  

Favorite Quote #48:

Don't forget to pray today, because God didn't forget to wake you up this morning.

I don't know if every man is like my husband and my father, but I am so grateful for these incredible men in my life who have taught me through their example how to live joyfully by living in the moment.

So are you attached to the past or worried about what might happen in the future?  Let go and let God and you will be calm and at peace even amidst the storms of life.  It is possible and it can be your reality right now.  Just accept and allow what is to be what it is.  Whatever you look like, whatever you're doing, wherever you are - it is what it is.  Allow it to be so.  I know you can do this because I have done it even though I am not perfect at it and even though it has taken time and patience to get here.  But it definitely has become the way I think the majority of the time now.  It takes time to make this a permanent part of your life.  Don't get frustrated and discouraged and give up because you're not perfect at it.  As we continue to practice living in the moment, it will become more a part of our habitual way of living until it becomes the majority of our lives.  So practice and practice and then practice some more.  Practice makes permanent not perfect.  Practice in order to make living in the moment a permanent part of your life and when you do that you will make peace and joy a permanent part of your life.

I want to end with a repeat of a song I put in a previous post.  The song is Living in the Moment by Jason Mraz.  So you can obviously see why I need to include it again in this post.  Find the song on playlist.com or wherever and then listen while you read these lyrics.  Pay attention to how he talks about living in the future in the first verse.  Then in the second verse he talks about living in the past.  And his chorus is all about living in the moment.  Such a great song and its all truth!

If this life is one act
Why do we lay all these traps?
We put them right in our path
When we just wanna be free

I will not waste my days
Making up all kinds of ways
To worry about all the things
That will not happen to me

So I just let go of what I know I don't know
And I know I'll only do this by
Living in the moment
Living my life
Easy and breezy
With peace in my mind
With peace in my heart
Peace in my soul
Wherever I'm going, I'm already home
Living in the moment

I'm letting myself off the hook for things I've done
I let my past go past
And now I'm having more fun
I'm letting go of the thoughts
That do not make me strong
And I believe this way can be the same for everyone

And if I fall asleep
I know you'll be the one who'll always remind me
To live in the moment
To live my life
Easy and breezy
With peace in my mind
With peace in my heart
Got peace in my soul
Wherever I'm going, I'm already home

I can't walk through life facing backwards
I have tried
I tried more than once to just make sure
And I was denied the future I'd been searching for
But I spun around and hurt no more
By living in the moment
Living my life
Easy and breezy
With peace in my mind
With peace in my heart
Got peace in my soul
Wherever I'm going, I'm already home

I'm living in the moment
I'm living my life
Just taking it easy
With peace in my mind
Got peace in my heart
Got peace in my soul
Oh, wherever I'm going, I'm already home

I'm living in the moment
I'm living my life
Oh, easy and breezy
With peace in my mind
Peace in my heart
Peace in my soul
Wherever I'm going, I'm already home
I'm living in the moment

  

Embrace the now!  Live in the moment and you will be at peace because you will have found God!  You are amazing and wonderful and beautiful just the way you are RIGHT NOW!  So . . .

be.YOU.tiful!!!