I'm sitting in a crowded caf?. Straight ahead is a young couple Roger Maris Cardinals Jersey , the woman staring intently at a computer screen, the man writing feverishly in a notebook. They work steadily, not looking up or speaking with each other. Ahead and to the right sits another couple. The young man sips from a large cup. He stares blankly ahead and then looks around aimlessly. The young woman concentrates on some of the artwork on the wall, turning occasionally to comment on the pieces. The young man breaks his reverie to nod agreement with her opinion. The counter is populated on the customer's side by a young woman, digging busily in her purse for money, and on the servers? side by a still younger woman with dreadlocks and a simple cloth skirt over a pair of jeans.
Everyone I see is busy. Whatever they're doing seems so important to them. They're very serious. They don't smile. They seldom interact. If I were a visitor from another planet, I'd say that these Earthlings are a very troubled, very preoccupied species. Actually Albert Pujols Cardinals Jersey , they all look hypnotized, dazed, entranced.
I watch the flow of life going on around me. I'm at peace. I'm content. Are there things I could be doing? Yes. Are there things I could be planning, reviewing, or worrying about? Sure. I'm human. I've got a life. But, for right now, I'm choosing to be in the moment. For me, there is no past Red Schoendienst Cardinals Jersey , no future. Just now.
From this perspective, many things become clear: one is just how not present most people are. Another is how unnecessary it is to live anywhere but in the present moment. Our preoccupation with our difficulties is routed in the mistaken idea that something is terribly wrong and must be fixed. The first words to ponder in the workbook for The Course in Miracles by Russ Wise are these:
Nothing matters
That's it. Just those two simple words with the infinite power to change our entire lives.
Now, I can hear many of you reacting in defiance against this principle. And that's OK. You'd get lots of agreement from society at large for the insistence that some things do matter. What about war, disease, injustice? Don't these things matter?
Yes and no. From a human perspective, of course they do. We try our best to live within certain parameters and help when we can. But from a spiritual perspective, it's all neutral. Nothing has the inherent quality of goodness or badness. It just is what it is. We humans attribute those qualities to the people and things around us. Devoid of judgment, the world actually becomes a friendlier place.
How would you treat others if you were God Willie McGee Cardinals Jersey , or Jesus, or the Buddha? Would you accept some people or situations and reject others? No. You would love and cherish all beings and circumstances. You would treat everyone, regardless of his actions, with respect. You'd see those who acted inappropriately not as unacceptable, repulsive beings, but as confused children who had lost their way. How would you treat yourself? As a broken, hopeless mass of neuroses, or as a cherished Bob Gibson Cardinals Jersey , wonderful, and innocent individual, perfect exactly as you are?