Working things out on the page..

The temptation to live in the past, or the future, tends to happen if the present doesn’t seem to crack up to much.

Seen as a stop gap in many ways, from that viewpoint, we overlook the fact that the present always becomes the past, and ironically, when we look back its often with fondness.

So why cant we appreciate things at the time we experience them?

Sure.. living in the now can be okay. In fact, it may be the best way to get by, but it’s sometimes hard to do because we are intellectual and emotional beings,an amalgamation of our past experiences...our hopes or future aspirations.
Living in the now, would mean having to be honest with yourself about a great many things, and accepting and understanding ‘the now’.

Okay...we’re often told that living in the now is acceptance, and I was once told that if you accept something you should never complain about it, yet our history is littered with stories of people who refused to accept a situation and brought about change... improvements to their lives if you will ( and the lives of others). Their ‘now’, was to fight for a better future...total un-acceptance of what they had, in the knowledge that they had a right to, and as human beings deserved more. I guess I’m thinking about the civil rights era ( and similar struggles) But it’s applies to much more does it not?
So maybe its not really about acceptance so much as living in truth.

Living in truth means knowing and accepting who you are... perhaps even an alignment of thought and action.. Consistency.
The reason it can be a struggle is because we ( as social beings with an innate desire to connect to others) want to be liked, loved, appreciated, and accepted ( by individuals or wider society) and in order to achieve that (for some not all) it may mean compromising, or perhaps hiding, pretending, or moulding ourselves to fit the shape which we feel may best acquire or sustain, that which we crave. We also tend to be preservationists, yet quite selfish.. (war is testimony to that)
This approach may work, but we risk or happiness, and it’s not real..

I know what it’s like to not be accepted... to be criticized.. e.g.. too tall.. too opinionated, blah blah, so .. whilst I love my height, I remember going quiet for a while, until I was able to recognise that I am what i am, and that may not suit some, but suits me fine.
So at least now when I’m quiet, its because I’m in thought.. or just simply want to be. There still exists within me a desire to be accepted for who I am, ( which is different from a desire for acceptance)
For others to see what I see.. and to share what I know.. think, or feel... which for me, is more about connecting
All of this is an ongoing process, as we discover new things about ourselves all the time

Happy SMS x