“When was the last time You were, present?” - Where One Hundred Percent of your attention is on just one thing.
I invite You as You read this to be present. Absorb every word, every piece of information from this moment. No thoughts, just experience.
It’s 16:55 on a cold February afternoon, I’m sitting in My lounge with My laptop propped on a small table in front of Me.
The heating is off and a few flakes of snow are falling in the fading light outside. My Body shivers, grateful to hear the heating click back on and the roar of flames bursting into life in kitchen.
Two salt lamps add a warm orange glow to the dimming light streaming in through large, icy looking bay windows.
The gentle scent of Sandalwood hangs in the air, as I sit comfortably on the sofa.
Only the time is not 16:55. There is no time.
The time, is Now. There is no past, only memories. There is no future, only thoughts about a possible future.
The only time that exists, is Now, this very moment. The time you call the future, does not exist in the present. It isn’t here and so doesn’t exist. The future will appear… Now.
The story I’m about to tell happened in a previous Now, usually referred to as yesterday evening to give you some reference of how many Now’s have passed since this moment.
A Now doesn’t really have a length of time, it’s just…Now, and it’s gone, replaced by another, Now.
My hope is that with this story, you will understand how experiencing the Now can change Your life.
Let's go back to a previous Now, now stored in My memory.
I’m aware of the present Now, I sit still and begin to observe. At first I notice there are thoughts, so I let them go and simply observe, noticing and perceiving My surroundings.
It’s 21:04 on Monday evening, I’m sitting in My lounge with the soft orange glow of two salt lamps and the gentle flicker of a flame as My source of light.
It’s warm and quiet.
The pleasant scent of Sandalwood drifts once again through the room.
There are no thoughts. Silence flows through Me. I observe how I feel.
I feel good.
I observe deeper; I feel safe, I feel comfortable, I feel warm, I feel gratitude, I feel connected, I feel accomplished.
I’m experiencing all of these, Now. Yet some of them are the result of how I lived in the previous 24 hours of Now.
I stay there for a moment. Experiencing my experience, I have no need to do something else.
Simply observing how I feel, feels good. So I allow myself to feel it and give space for inspiration or creativity or what ever the flow of life will bring Me in this moment.
As I feel into My current experience. I take a moment to notice all of the things I am grateful for right Now, in this moment.
I am grateful for the beautiful, soothing ambient glow of the salt lamps, for the warmth, for the space to be with Myself…
It feels good to be grateful.
The flickering flame catches My eye as is slowly burns.
I get close to it, and look at the detail: I look at the perfect curvature of the blue ball that engulfs the orange burn of the wick. I notice the gap between the flame and the wick. I notice the individual strands of cotton and how their embers dance. I notice the process of the wick soaked in fuel and the reaction of the fuel’s molecules as heat transforms them into more heat and light energy.
I meditate on what I am seeing, allowing Myself to drink in every detail, without thought.
I become aware of incredible beauty, both visually and in the mechanics of the Universe.
I feel blessed to be alive, to be aware, to see such beauty in something so simple.
Moments like this I feel inspiration to be creative, to take pictures. So after a few minutes of experiencing, I allow Myself to be present and creative.
As I go about My day and when I have moments like this, I open Myself to be fully present in experiencing the Now, taking in as much information as I can.
Noticing My surroundings and how I feel, I make adjustments: anything I don’t enjoy, I change, until I create the experience I want, until I feel the way I want to feel.
15 Human minutes later, I’m still present as I make Myself a Jacket Potato and Beans.
I’ve been enjoying this almost every week for the past few months, but today is different..
..I became aware of how I feel about eating this. I notice I don’t want to eat Jacket Potato and Beans.
As I looked at my steaming Potato with hot Beans slopped over it. Something didn’t feel right. I observed the thought, “what is this, it doesn’t look healthy, is this really what I want to eat?”
And in that moment I answered my question. “No. I eat a healthy balanced diet.”
Where did that voice come from? I didn’t think it, I just knew it was true. It was My Higher Self, My Best Self, Whom I have got to know more in the past few months.
Even though in that moment I wasn’t eating as healthily as I wanted to. I knew the statement was true, because I know that I Am the Higher Self and that is what I, as the Higher Self would do.
It’s only not true in that past moment, because of the habits of this older version of Ashley. It’s only because of the conditioning, because of the fears, because Ashley wasn’t present when He started preparing the food.
If I had been present as I began preparing My food, I would have asked My Higher Self, what do I want to eat tonight. I would have known the answer, because Our Higher Self always knows.
I would have been present as I prepare the food. I would have noticed the scent of the Red Bell Pepper as I chopped. I would have listened to the Quinoa gently bubbling away. I would have tasted the Onion. I would have been aware of the nutrients this food provides My body and I would have delighted in the feast of colours and the way I feel as I enjoy it’s flavours.
I would have noticed how eating healthily makes Me feel, how it feels to be more of My Higher Self and I would have continued to notice how I feel, after eating healthily.
I would have become present with thoughts about a future Now, where I eat healthily regularly, where the body I occupy benefits from the balanced nutrients. Where I experience more joy from my food because I enjoy more of the richness it provides in the moment of preparation, while eating and in the way My body feels after.
There is tremendous power in the present moment, in the Now if you allow Yourself to access it.
And from Now and onwards, I will choose more and more healthy options, all the time being present in the Now. If in a future Now there is a slip up, I will use the memory of that past Now to learn and remind Myself WHY. To remind Myself of WHO the Higher Self is. Always evolving and changing.
I remember, the past Now is there to show us something we can learn. You remember it for a reason. You felt something. How did you feel in that memory?
Did you feel good? Great, do more of that.
Did you feel bad? What can You learn, what can You do differently next time that would make You feel good?
I remind Myself of this and keep doing it. Gradually getting to know more of My Highest Self.
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I will talk more about presence in future articles, with more stories on other ways I use presence.
“When was the last time You were really present? What did You notice? How did You Feel?” And, “Has this article inspired You in anyway?”
Let me know in the comments.
Have a super present, Now.
Love, Peace and Strength,
Ashley
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