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QUOTATION OF THE WEEK

If you worry about what might be, and wonder what might have been, you will ignore what is.
--Unknown

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS

Sometimes it seems that we live in a society filled with worry warts. People worry about everything: their looks, their health, their money (or lack of it), their love life (or lack of it), their job (or lack of it), their in-laws, the outlaws, the weather, worry, worry, worry! We have filled our minds with anxieties over things (most of which will never happen), while the beauty of each moment is lost. Stop and feel the present. You are alive, you are breathing, you are safe, are you not? The moment you are living in right now is the only reality. Everything else has either already happened, and you can do nothing about it, or it is in the future, which contains only thoughts and not reality. So why not put all your energies into the present and "see the sunset." Bring the light of the present into your life and it will light the way for your future.

There once was a middle-aged man who always worried. He worried about all the things in the past that he regretted, things that he did wrong, or things he could have done better. He worried about things in the future that he "knew" would happen and he was certain they would be very unpleasant. The past or the future, never the present, filled each moment. One day he met a very wise woman who asked him how he was doing. The man told her that he didn't feel well and he knew he must have some kind of serious illness. He said that he should have taken better care of himself when he was younger. He told her how he would never be successful in his job, never have enough money, and how he would never find a true love. The wise woman asked him a simple question. She said, "What time is it?" Looking at his watch, he said, "3:00." The wise woman said, "Are you certain?" He looked at his watch again and nodded. A third time she asked if he was absolutely positive. Again, somewhat annoyed, he said yes. In a soft and calm voice the wise woman said, "Oh, from the way you were talking, I was certain it was much earlier or very much later."

In what time are you living? Are you living in hours past or hours yet to be, or are you truly living and rejoicing in the present? The present is the only place where you have control and can bring positive change. It is the only place where you can make a difference. The past is gone, the future is yet to be, the present is the gift of life.

Blessings and Love,
Allen Schmeltz

Copyright © 2000 Allen F. Schmeltz. All rights reserved.

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