SYSTEMS & SYNERGY

A great question.  How DO you remain present, centered, living in the moment, while living a fast paced life? 

A friend asked me this question not too long ago. 

I though of how to explain it… And thought some more.  Then, I just let go and the answer came.

It’s like this.  Think of your biceps.  Most people know about biceps, so its a great muscle to think of for this example.  (These are the two muscles in the front portion of your arm, used in alomost anything you do with your arms or hands).

So, your biceps are used a lot when you lift up a cup or a heavy weight with your hands and arms; they are used much less so when you walk, but they are still used a little as, of course, you move your arms a little while you walk.

Well, what does this have to do with being present?

Your brain is a lot like a bicep.  You use it a great deal when thinking about solving a specific problem or when planning a specific course of action; you use it less so when completing a repetitive task or strolling through the park or breathing….

So, like a muscle in your body, the brain is used more and less so, more and less deliberately depending on what you are doing.

Remaining present is a lot about shutting off the brain, or you could say its about calming the parts of the brain that are constantly chattering…. The story of the Ego, Ekhart Tolle calls it. 

Calm, serene, peacful, satisfied with life and the moment you are in… that’ s a nice state and is what is meant by being present.

But, what’s for dinner?  Who is picking up the kids?  How will I plan for retirement?

Here’s my answer to the quandry:

Use your brain for what you need to use it for, then stop.   Focus on the task or tasks at hand when you are doing them.  If you are planning, do that.  Make plans.  Just like the biceps, however, if you are not using them… don’t use them.  Turn off.  It would do us no good at all to walk around all day shooting our hands up in the air like a keen student burning to answer a teacher’s question.  It would also look a little funny. 

SO WHY DO WE USE OUR BRAINS WHEN WE DO NOT NEED TO?

Dunno…. sloppy skills is the best I can come up with.  We tend to use our physical muscles in greater and lesser degree as needed.  We tend to let the brain addle on 24 /7 full blast and at high speed.  The problem with leaving it ‘on’ all the time is that it often gets up to all sorts of bad things, such as thinking negative thoughts, thinking about things that haven’t happened, or things that might never happen, or re-living things that have happened and have already passed…

We don’t use the biceps unless they were neeeded to do something.  The same needs to be true for the brain.

The answer to the question posed in the title of this article  is… use your brain only when it is needed and only for what it is needed for when it is needed…. In this way, the powerful brain is used for what it is was designed for; thought, planning, analysis, learning etc.   And, when it is not needed in full power… just be.  Let it rest.  Let you rest.  Just be and enjoy the moments as they come and as they pass.  Its a liberating way to live.  And, you can do it too.

I hope you have found this useful

all the best