So, being PRESENT. What the fuck does it mean exactly? (Or how am I interpreting it rather?)
It’s a matter of living in the moment. Not being somewhere else in your brain. Not Distracted. Not playing pretend. Not going back. Not looking forward in the future. Just living, breathing and taking in the NOW.
Well, excuse me.
Those are all my favorite places!
During my weekend wellness seminar I spent 20 clinical hours coaching people with this principle in mind, being present. With the disclaimer, “this is really good shit, I just don’t do it myself, but I’ve seen it work!”
Maybe I should have lied?
But due to that disclaimer, I decided I should try it.
And let me tell you, it sucks!
And it’s hard.
I don’t know about you, but I live in a distorted reality. Half real, half imagined. Not “A Beautiful Mind” distorted, but I like to day dream a lot. I’m a frequent flyer to LaLa Land. I’m thinking of the future. What it may look like.
I’m already on vacation in Antigua. I’m at a book signing. I’m coaching someone in my new office. I’m in Salem on Devil’s Night. Hell, I’m buying a new outfit and then wearing it out next Saturday. I wonder who I’ll meet?
I mean for fuck’s sake, who gets anything done that way?!
They don’t. I get out of my head about half of the time in order to take care of shit.
Fine. I lied. 1/3 of the time I’m out of it. When I’m doing something. When I’m physically present.
When I’m not locked into something that requires my full attention, my mind wanders and I just let it.
I’ve never made an attempt to stop it. Curb it; sure. I mean, I can pick where it goes to an extent and I figured that as long as it was going in a positive direction, who cares, let it go.
But through doing that, we miss a lot of the great shit that happens in the moment. Little, big, whatever. And maybe miss an opportunity.
Personally I guess I just prefer my head, because I’ve fine tuned it to only go where I want it to; most of the time.
I think you get the picture. This Dorothy is almost always in Oz unless she has to click her shoes three times and take care of some shit, quick, back in reality.
So yesterday I sat myself down. I told myself I had to take a break from LaLa Land and sit in Reality for a while. Get even more productive. Focus on the now, almost all of the time. I’d let myself day dream at the end of the night.
The last time I can remember being so mother fucking frustrated was when I was detoxing from cocaine. When I would constantly have to shove the thoughts of using and scoring out of my head. Now I was having to shove thoughts of my happy place, my pretend place, my future place, my remembering place, out.
I didn’t fully realize how much in my head I was until having to snap myself back all day and all night yesterday.
I’d trained myself meticulously over the last few years to do this, to retreat into my head. It was safe and pleasant there. And now I was kicking myself out.
It sucks. It’s boring. It’s rather lonely and I don’t quite like it.
But like I tell my clients, it works. And from what I’ve seen from their actions, it does work!
So this hypocrite is getting real. Really Real.
Dear Present, here I am. Please try not to eat me alive. Thanks.
Buy Hi, Have You Met Me? on Amazon today! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B009W1M
Check out the blog on it's home site @
www.hihaveyoumetme.com for previous writings and more.
Don’t forget to stalk me further at https://twitter.com/#!/hihaveyoumetme orhttp://www.facebook.com/authorkatemonahan
It’s a matter of living in the moment. Not being somewhere else in your brain. Not Distracted. Not playing pretend. Not going back. Not looking forward in the future. Just living, breathing and taking in the NOW.
Well, excuse me.
Those are all my favorite places!
During my weekend wellness seminar I spent 20 clinical hours coaching people with this principle in mind, being present. With the disclaimer, “this is really good shit, I just don’t do it myself, but I’ve seen it work!”
Maybe I should have lied?
But due to that disclaimer, I decided I should try it.
And let me tell you, it sucks!
And it’s hard.
I don’t know about you, but I live in a distorted reality. Half real, half imagined. Not “A Beautiful Mind” distorted, but I like to day dream a lot. I’m a frequent flyer to LaLa Land. I’m thinking of the future. What it may look like.
I’m already on vacation in Antigua. I’m at a book signing. I’m coaching someone in my new office. I’m in Salem on Devil’s Night. Hell, I’m buying a new outfit and then wearing it out next Saturday. I wonder who I’ll meet?
I mean for fuck’s sake, who gets anything done that way?!
They don’t. I get out of my head about half of the time in order to take care of shit.
Fine. I lied. 1/3 of the time I’m out of it. When I’m doing something. When I’m physically present.
When I’m not locked into something that requires my full attention, my mind wanders and I just let it.
I’ve never made an attempt to stop it. Curb it; sure. I mean, I can pick where it goes to an extent and I figured that as long as it was going in a positive direction, who cares, let it go.
But through doing that, we miss a lot of the great shit that happens in the moment. Little, big, whatever. And maybe miss an opportunity.
Personally I guess I just prefer my head, because I’ve fine tuned it to only go where I want it to; most of the time.
I think you get the picture. This Dorothy is almost always in Oz unless she has to click her shoes three times and take care of some shit, quick, back in reality.
So yesterday I sat myself down. I told myself I had to take a break from LaLa Land and sit in Reality for a while. Get even more productive. Focus on the now, almost all of the time. I’d let myself day dream at the end of the night.
The last time I can remember being so mother fucking frustrated was when I was detoxing from cocaine. When I would constantly have to shove the thoughts of using and scoring out of my head. Now I was having to shove thoughts of my happy place, my pretend place, my future place, my remembering place, out.
I didn’t fully realize how much in my head I was until having to snap myself back all day and all night yesterday.
I’d trained myself meticulously over the last few years to do this, to retreat into my head. It was safe and pleasant there. And now I was kicking myself out.
It sucks. It’s boring. It’s rather lonely and I don’t quite like it.
But like I tell my clients, it works. And from what I’ve seen from their actions, it does work!
So this hypocrite is getting real. Really Real.
Dear Present, here I am. Please try not to eat me alive. Thanks.
Buy Hi, Have You Met Me? on Amazon today! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B009W1M
Check out the blog on it's home site @
www.hihaveyoumetme.com for previous writings and more.
Don’t forget to stalk me further at https://twitter.com/#!/hihaveyoumetme orhttp://www.facebook.com/authorkatemonahan