Now is New

 

Last week, while I was out running, I listened to a guided run from Nike Run Club hosted by Coach Bennet and Andy Puddycombe. If you like running or want to like running, I highly recommend the guided runs at Nike Run Club (NRC). They're fantastic. And free! Every time I listen I feel like it's got to be one of the modern world's best-kept secrets that you don't even have to pay money to use such a great tool and get top-quality coaching. Not an affiliate link, I'm just a passionate fan. 

Last week I did "Morning Run" with Headspace. There were two different ideas they expressed that resonated with me and I thought, wow, I bet there is something really profound there if I stop to listen and think about it. 

So here's the first one: 

"The past is gone, the future isn't here yet. All there is is now"

- Andy Puddicombe

I know those two "is's" in a row look funny but as best I can remember that is how he said it. And it works when you say it out loud. 

The point is, this reminded me of a few other things I've heard and learned over the past few years and I want to try to connect the ideas here. 

A few years ago, while I was just starting to learn about the ideas behind life coaching and mindfulness, someone, probably Jody Moore or Cory Muscara, two teachers I listen to regularly, explained how this moment, and then this one, and then this one, is all that is ever real at any given time and has never been lived before. No one in the history of the world has lived this moment - until now. 

Cool, huh?

It blows my mind but something clicked just a little bit for me with that explanation and I caught a glimpse of how exciting that could be - to be always on the 'edge', always living in a moment that has never been lived before. Mind-boggling. 

Recently, Life Coach Tonya Leigh shared the idea in her podcast that a definition of "the past" is: 

"gone by in time and no longer existing" 

Tonya adds her thoughts, "So, if it no longer exists, then is it real? What is it? And what I've concluded is that the past is just a story that you have in your head. And that means you can change the past by changing the story." Again - mind-blown. To hear more about her thoughts on changing the past, check out the podcast episode here. 

And then today I listened to another guided run from NRC and Headspace, where they said, as part of the guided coaching, which was superb:

"Now is new"

I decided I had to write all of these down and try to connect the dots because the concept is elusive but so thrilling when I catch hold of it for a moment. 

I have been thinking of it like a flame burning through paper. The past is like the paper that was there a moment ago but isn't now. The flame is where life, energy, and action are; just that thin line of flame moving across the paper, always on the edge, always changing and new. Time is always flowing, always progressing at the steady rate God set it on; we have no control over it. And every moment is new. 

I don't think this is totally making sense but it's as close as I can get right now. Isn't it fascinating to think about?