This is the time of year for resolutions, goal setting and intentions. We habitually look forward, imagining the time when we will have achieved our goals or reached the place where we want to be. Meanwhile, we are ‘getting there.’
There is no ‘there.’ There is only this moment, this moment, and this one. The past and the future exist only in our thoughts. If we are constantly ‘getting there,’ focusing on our future goals, hopes or wishes, we are actually missing our life which is happening now.
Life, however, is a journey. When we say there is only this moment, we do not mean that we are frozen in the Now. The nature of life is that it is always moving. Cycling, circling, changing, transforming. Time goes on relentlessly. We don’t know where it is going but it never stops moving.
How do we reconcile these two concepts? The fact that we are living in the Now and the constant movement that is our existence? How can we sink deeply into a moment when there is no stopping, when we are on a journey, when everything is changing all the time, when our lives are speeding towards an unknown destination?
I was pondering this during the week and thinking about movement and journeys when I remembered the brilliant day I spent white water rafting. It had been a long held ambition and you can read more about it here.
On the Olympic course at Lea Valley where this photo was taken, you’re not really getting anywhere, as there is a lift to take you, in your boat, from the end of the course back to the beginning. But let’s imagine that our lives are like white water rides, going from point A which we can’t remember, to another point which is unknown. We are definitely moving. In fact, we are moving forwards, up and down and side to side. We are being bumped around and soaked and sometimes the boat capsizes. But we are also moving forwards all the time. The point, however, of white water rafting, is usually to have an exhilarating ride. To feel excited, scared, challenged, fulfilled. Sound a little bit like your life? It is certainly a good metaphor for mine!
And when we go on a white water adventure, we are not focusing on where we are going to end up. The point is the ride itself. The point is in every moment of challenge, adventure and excitement. The point is even in the fear.
I loved my white water ride so much that it was much more about excitement and exhilaration than about fear for me. I relished every moment, constantly moving in all directions with so much happening, but imprinting every moment on my memory as the time rushed by.
And that is what living in the Now is like. Life keeps moving, sometimes in very challenging ways. We can’t stop time or freeze the moment, but we can savour the exhilaration of the ride.
The ride is where the essence of life is; even if our boat has capsized, we are living an amazing adventure. Let’s forget about the destination just for a while and enjoy the ride.
Harriet x
PS. That’s me in the yellow helmet if you are wondering.
