HOW TO PERFECT YOUR PRESENT
LET YOUR OUTLOOK SERVE YOU
What is your present? Your present is the reality of everything in your life today, right now. It is not your wishes, what could be, what should or shouldn’t be, but what actually IS. It is taking an honest look at your life and how things really are, in regards to your relationships, career, finances, lifestyle, and any circumstance you are in.
What would your life be like if you were to ACCEPT the current timing, situation, problem, or challenge as perfect?
There are two sides of the coin that we can look at when we view our life.
One side can be clouded with dissatisfaction, annoyance, negativity, and full “shoulds” about where we ought to be.
The other side is to aligning yourself with what IS happening in your life, to learn, to see the opportunities, to be grateful in all things, and to seize the day. The way things are in your life today, are often that way for a good reason (even when we can’t see it or understand).
3 WAYS YOUR OUTLOOK WILL MAKE YOU THRIVE:
1. EMBRACE YOUR PRESENT:
How does where you are at today in all your circumstances, serve you? Anything in life can serve us if we choose to view it like that.F or example, by embracing where I currently am financially (as in, not yet financially free ;-), I recognize that I am gaining wisdom in handling money. Because of my present financial situation, I have become a more creative and efficient person. I celebrate the progress, love what I have learned, and I have a strategy for the future.
When we are open to embracing our present circumstances, we can learn more, be aware of the opportunities that are around us and be more productive, which opens the way to enjoy every moment of your present and paves the way for a greater future.
2. NEW AWARENESS, OPPORTUNITIES, AND GRATITUDE:
When you are fully engaged in the present it forces you to pay attention to what’s happening around you right now. You are absorbed with what is going on and not fixated on what ought to happen. Your new awareness will open your eyes up to possibilities that you may not have seen before you were fully present.
Find what you are grateful for in the present. Gratitude often releases more awareness and primes us to receive more good things in life.
When I first moved to New York, I had a day to sightsee before my new job started. I had wanted to go to Liberty and Ellis Island so a friend and I set off. Needless to say, New York traffic was horrendous and very confusing my first time out (this is before GPS). We took a wrong turn and wound up in Brooklyn missing the last boat for the day. Rather than deciding that our plans and our entire day was ruined, we decided to be grateful for the present circumstance and look for other opportunities that were right in front of us – like a tour of the World Trade Center. We went to the observation roof and took in the spectacular view. It was the summer of 2001 and little did I know, that opportunity would never be there again. Now in retrospect, I am even more grateful for the wrong turn that we took, that our plans were turned upside-down, and we looked for the present opportunity.
3. SEE HOW YOUR PAST HAS MADE YOUR PRESENT PERFECT:
If you are having a tough time seeing your present as perfect, look into your past and see how your difficult circumstances gave you new opportunities, learning, relationships, or put you on a different and better path. Sometimes it helps us to look in hindsight as to how things have worked out in our lives for the best (although we did not see it at the time).
As Steve Jobs said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”
I encourage you to get in the habit of embracing and viewing your present as perfect by discovering how your circumstances serve you. You will find you have new awareness, opportunities, gratitude and joy in every moment.
Carpe Diem!
