The Freedom of the Present Moment

If we look closely, we will see that we live most of our lives on autopilot. We may be taking dishes out of the dishwasher, doing laundry, making the bed, or taking a shower, while only being dimly aware of what we’re doing. Our minds are way off, thinking about that remark someone made, a piece we saw on the news, a rebuttal we’d like to make to someone’s politics, or planning our day. But we are scarcely present for the act of putting the dishes away, doing the laundry, making the bed, or showering.

One of the consequences of this is that our conditioning runs along unimpeded. We may take thoughtless mistakes, or allow our consciousness to run in the grooves of our habitual thought, often negative in nature.

When we bring ourselves back to the present moment, uniting body and mind, an element of freedom begins to open up in us. We realize we are repeating the same old patterns, most of them not helpful.

Only when we come back into the present moment does it become possible for us to make a different choice.