July 26

PATIENCE MONTH: DAY 26: “An eternity is any moment opened with patience.” ― Noah Benshea

Have you ever spent one moment where time stands still? I have. It is an interesting experience. It happens with many of life’s moments…sometimes physical or emotional pain is expanded into an incredibly long moment that seems to go on forever.

Likewise, joy and love expand time as well. The thing that creates this is our intense focus on NOW. I love being completely caught in any moment, because there is an expansion and contraction of that moment when I am IN it. Those things I mentioned are how that happens. We pay attention and become fully present to pain, grief, sorrow, joy and love.

Any time we are fully in the moment, it has the ability to expand and contract and become very fleeting or very intensely grown to go on and on.

Fear keeps us locked into a pattern of past vs. future that does not allow us to be alive in this moment. We miss so much of life being in this state and living fully in our defense mechanisms/character defects. That is why the 12×12 speaks about our fear as being the factor in all character defects. They are all protective (defensive) tools that we unconsciously use to be safe.

Our old ideas around being safe are invalid. It is so important to remember why we develop these tools and how inappropriate they are to our true sense of self and happiness.

When I am sitting in THIS moment, I am happy and content, because everything is just the way it is. When I let the Screaming Purple Monkeys (SPM) take over this moment, it is ruined! I am transported instantly into the dance of yesterday vs. tomorrow. Ugh!

Rote activity produces a sensation where we do not remember what we did. Driving is like that too often. We are pre-occupied with past and future things and can arrive somewhere not remembering the journey. I really work to practice mindful driving; seeing all around me. It is amazing what I can see that others miss.

Life if the same way. If we are stuck in our routine thoughts about life, we are defensive and on remote control…not mindful or present at all. When we become present, everything becomes brighter, more intense and the experience is more real somehow. I want to live fully and breathe in every bit of life I can get…breathing and mindful…a great way to be!