A Means to an End?

One of the most prevalent patterns [of the mind] is reducing the present moment to a means to an end.
-Eckhart Tolle

Normal

It is 'normal' for most of us, isn't it, to treat this moment like it is something we just have to get through or out of the way so we can get to the next moment?  We assume the next moment will be better than this one? This way of dealing with "time" is so inherent in most of, so ingrained in the subconscious mind that we are often not even aware that we are doing it. It is 'normal'.   I love Eckhart Tolle's take on this: My definition of normal is insane.

Time

We do not just treat moments like this but whole chunks of so called time.  We are always just getting through the time in front of us to get to something better.  We are "waiting" for life to be something worth living. We spend our workdays counting down to the weekend, don't we?  We spend our childhoods waiting to "grow up".  We spend our adult years waiting to find the perfect person and the perfect job to make us whole and complete. Once we get the perfect job...we wait for retirement. Once we find the special someone we wait until they change to become  everything we want them to be to make us happy. The moment we are in, the time frame we are in is often just used as a stepping stone to the next moment. We can't wait to get through it and be done with it.

Present or Future?

What then are we doing in that moment or that chunk of time  while we wait?  We are enduring, projecting, dreaming and anticipating or hoping for something better.  We are not "there" in the present. We are in our heads and lost in some mental projection we call the future.

The future never comes people!  When the next moment comes...it is "this moment".  There is no arriving.  You can hop and skip over every stepping stone you find yourself on but that momentum  isn't taking you anywhere but away from the present moment...away from living the only life you got!

Getting Ready For Something Better

So you are getting ready to go out on a date with someone you think might "be the one". You have to shower, fix your hair, shave, do your makeup ( or maybe both)...what is the quality of your doing?  Are you paying loving attention to the water coming down over you as you shower?  Are you aware of the scent of the shampoo and the softness  of the soap lather against your skin?  Or are you totally unconscious of anything other than that you are all twisted up inside thinking about how you hope the person likes you and that you get along or that it isn't going to be too uncomfortable?  Maybe your mind is taking you to a church and you  see yourself  walking down the aisle.  Maybe you see yourself with his/her children in your arms. Or maybe you see him or her rejecting you when they figure out how "defective and unworthy" you are. 

Chances are you don't even notice the water, the smell, the feel of anything as you shower...because you are not "there."  You are somewhere in a time that doesn't exist.  This moment you are in is just a means to get you out the door and into your car.  Driving the car is just a means to get you to the date.  The date is just a means to get you into a special relationship...and getting committed to this person  is just a means to get you to place where you can be happy and secure.

Life is in this moment right here, right now

Hmmm!  What about this moment right now?  Right here and right now?  How much loving attention are you giving it?  This right here now is the only Life you have. That up there is something you will never "arrive at" because it doesn't exist anywhere but in your head. Do you get that yet?

By all means  have dreams and make plans as to how to get yourself there but don't ignore the Life that is happening right here and right now.  Pay special loving attention to everything you do.  Notice it all.  Appreciate it all and start living now.

Life, after all, is what happens when you are busy making other plans.

All is well


Eckhart Tolle (June 2019 ) The Ultimate source of Wisdom and Balance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ptJ8UCbDGQ