Today’s article was written by Change Coach Suzie Yeulett
I find myself just noticing life unfolding more and more.
Something has shifted so that I see myself as the ‘noticer’, or the perceiver of life, rather than the ‘doer’ more often.
I first felt this shift when my Mum was at her end of life. It was as though I was watching myself apparently coping well with something that I didn’t want to happen. It surprised me at the time and I remember questioning if I was really ok.
Verb or noun?
I then felt a distinction a while ago that we humans are ‘being’ (singular), rather than ‘beings‘, ie, we’re the verb (being) not the noun (‘a’ being). I had this funny image of us as walking lenses, just taking in life, rather than ‘making’ it all happen.
The present moment is the only reality
As a coach, I regularly bring my clients back to the present moment, because we can only think, feel and act (or notice!) now. We are designed to cope moment by moment. This slows people down and allows space for mindful, emotional regulation and a better ability to cope.
Understanding our design and how our experience really works helps us to live with more ease and contentment, irrespective of circumstance. Seeing the present moment as the only point of power is significant and helpful to this understanding in my experience.
Nature (plus a mind commentating)
We are nature, unfolding with everything we need inside. We’re just like an acorn, destined to be a mighty oak tree, or a tadpole or caterpillar that will transform into a frog or butterfly, by design, not by force or effort.
The difference between us and the nature we normally refer to ‘out there’ is that we have a mind that talks about what we’re doing, how we’re doing it and how we compare to others, and so on.
Does an acorn feel imposter syndrome next to a grown oak tree, or does it just BE as it is and allow its unfolding?
From Thoughts to Reality
When we operate from the surface level of the mind, we are often in thought and interpretation, rather than in true reality.
When we see that the present moment is the only reality, we can settle more deeply into ‘what is’ actually just here, right now.
‘Now’ being our only true experience is another way of putting this. If our attention is on the here and now, ie, our actual experience, we are seeing ‘what is’. We can simply notice and feel whatever is here and now, in this moment.
If our attention is on anything other than what is here, now, it is looking at ‘what is not’, or at mind-made thoughts and concepts. (Just as considering the word or concept of ‘water’ will not provide an experience of actually drinking water now.)
There is no future YOU to get to!
When we appreciate the true significance of the present moment, we can then appreciate that there is no future to get to. This here and now is everything. We can either notice it and enjoy it, or we can get caught in the mind and miss it.
We can appreciate our incredible minds, and with awareness (noticing), harness their power to help us enjoy life, one present moment at a time. That’s easy enough for everyone to manage; life, one step at a time. We’ve just got to slow down and notice it!
Learn more about Suzie here: https://www.sychangecoach.com/
