A while back I was having lunch with a friend I hadn’t seen in over a decade. As I had moved around over the last several years, we drifted apart. Last time we saw each other, we were totally different people than we are today.
Yet even though we didn’t really “know” each other anymore, the conversation was natural. Before we knew it, what seemed like 15 minutes had lasted two hours.
I was surprisingly delighted to connect with him in a common area of interest: we both had left behind the wild and crazy days of our youth and embarked on paths of personal transformation. We also both live in service to others.
It was abundantly clear how passionate he was about a personal growth seminar he attended many years ago. Every time I inquired about it, he remembered some fantastic experience or insight. Many of them made sense to me intuitively and logically, and many had been experiences I could relate to in my own way.
One specific experience stood out hands-and-feet above the rest though…
He told me that at ANY moment of any day, we could choose to “start our day over.” We could simply decide that whatever bad stuff had already happened didn’t have to negatively impact the rest of our day.
This really landed with me in a very real way because I’m deeply passionate about living in the moment. Yet with all the books out there on this topic, including The Power of Now, few of them give practical and actionable ways to actually do that.
That’s why when I come across an idea that really resonates with me, I want to test it out. I want to share it. I want to live it and see what’s true. Fortunately, in this case, just six words can make “The Power of Now” a reality:
“I’m starting my day over… NOW.”
Sure, we may have to start our day over again. And again. And perhaps again.
But let’s compare that to the alternative…
Anger. Frustration. Built up resentment. Sorrow. Shame. Fear. Regret. Rejection.
Whether we’re consciously aware of this or not – anytime we are not living in the Present moment immediately, we are in a state of rejection. We are rejecting what is. We are rejecting reality exactly the way it’s showing up right now.
So any, and every, time you find yourself frustrated with a “bad day” or something happened that you just can’t seem to let go of, remember the wise words of my friend:
“I’m starting my day over… NOW.”
