Day 73: Being Present, Quickly

Photo by Anna Dziubinska on Unsplash

After writing about the “ruthless elimination of hurry” last night, I spent today completely consumed by activity. 5:30 a.m., try to get up; 6 a.m., get up; 6:38, catch the bus; 6:50 to 9:15, research and write a book chapter; 9:15 to 10:30, prepare for class; 10:30 to 12:00, teach class; 12 to 12:30, talk to students; 12:30 to 1, talk to clients, 1 to 2, talk to more students, etc., etc. Now it’s 7 p.m., I’m deeply tired, and I’m not yet finished with my work for the day.

My guess is you can relate. Most people, at least in the western world, are all too familiar with some version of this drill.

As I went through the day today, I remembered this passage from The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. No matter what you may think of Tolle as a spiritual teacher (“one of the greatest spiritual teachers of our time, or the anti-Christ in a beige sweater vest,” as Macleans once summed up the debate), there’s simple philosophical wisdom in statements like this:

Are you stressed? Are you so busy getting to the future that the present is reduced to a means of getting there? Stress is caused by being "here" but wanting to be "there," or being in the present but wanting to be in the future. … If you have to, you can move fast, work fast or even run, without projecting yourself into the future and without resisting the present. As you move, work, run—do it totally. Enjoy the flow of energy, the high energy of that moment. Now you are no longer stressed, no longer splitting yourself in two. Just moving, running, working—and enjoying it.

I haven’t mastered this.

Honestly, I do love busy-ness. I love the “flow of energy, the high energy of that moment.” Given a choice (and we’re always given a choice), I have almost always chosen it over the quieter, more contemplative life that I usually say I want.

Even recognizing and accepting all this, though, I still experience resistance - particularly late in the day when the spirit remains willing but the flesh is weak. Then, I feel myself divide. I also feel distracted, irritable - probably not a recipe for closeness with God. Today, I hope that noticing is enough.