Living in the Now

I am a person with plans.  I always have a plan.  I live for my plans.  I spend most of my present in the future hanging out with my plans.

While I struggle to keep the family business administratively organized as we move from one province to another, I am often distracted by the constant planning of dozens of activities I am excited to either begin or revisit. I spend hours surfing the net looking for information on my planned practice, daydreaming about it and I often write about it; blogging like right now, making lists, notes and promises.  The ones that keep coming up are as follows:

• Teach myself to play songs I have fallen in love with on my beloved keyboard
• Get back to rebounding at least twenty minutes a day
• Learn to knit and crochet usable items rather than the rudimentary results I have achieved so far 
• Walk on the lovely wooded paths that closely surround my new home's location
• Read the many spiritual books I've bought from second hand shops and the occasional author, herself
• Develop a meditation routine that is done as part of a morning ritual
• Visit the elderly and offer a volunteer service I've thought up (more about that later)
• Take a course one evening a week

I have just realized that the dreaming of these plans takes more time than the actual acting on some of these plans.  This is interesting. 

I may be far enough along in my recovery that I could possibly incorporate one little new habit.  The incorporation of this habit will be in exchange for time spent thinking about incorporating this habit; thus nullifying any inconvenience or extra minutes used.

My new habit is this: when I start going into my planning (future) dream, I will immediately get up and do whatever I was planning then and there (present).  Then I might stop regretting all the time wasted (past).  Living in the present just might solve the problem.

When I dream about my keyboard, I will haul it out of the parked pod that contains our furniture, use a long extension cord and play the damn thing.  I got the movers to put it and my rebounder at the doorway to the pod... hey good planning!  Same goes for jumping on the mini-trampoline; if the thought comes along, I will act on it.

Rather than reading up on meditation, I will choose a podcast, put it on and meditate, gosh darn it.
I may walk in the woods while I do it if the thought occurs to me.  No wasted time debating it.

Instead of spending so much time online reading book reviews or hitting the book stores, I will use that time to read my collection.

Some things will have to wait; my yarn and knitting needles are at the lake and that is where they are staying for the time being.  Hubby will have a heart attack if I bring one more item to the trailer and I associate knitting to being at the lake house. 

It is too soon to take the course and go ahead with my volunteer plans so these will have to be put on the back burner until we have settled in our new home.

I might be able to be more productive, content and present in the now if I acted instead of planned. 

I think Mrs. D talked about this on her blog.  Maybe that is where I got the idea.  See how much we learn from each other...