I recently purchased a deck of cards called the Present Moment Reminder Deck, by Eckhart Tolle, to use with clients, family and myself.
The other day I drew a card that stopped me in my tracks. It said …
“A vital question to ask yourself frequently is: What is my relationship with the present moment — friend or enemy?”
Enemy? Did I read that right?
I had never thought about the present moment in that way before — as a relationship. When I check in it’s typically to see if I am in a place of acceptance or resistance (or a combination of the two).
And in that moment, I realized that the present moment felt like an enemy because I was fighting it — in other words I was resisting it. What Eckhart has done here, in one brief sentence, is help us cut through unconsciousness to reveal our relationship with the present moment. And in doing so, he helps us be IN the present moment.
One of the lessons I’ve learned is that awareness doesn’t necessarily put an end to resistance (AKA suffering), but it DOES put us in a position to take a breath and be in presence. And when we’re in presence, that resistance is like a barking dog that we’ve let out into the backyard, instead of letting it continue to bark right in our face.
What is your relationship to the present moment? Friend or enemy?