Gene's Blog

A complicated life

Many people wish their lives were less complicated. They remember a carefree time and dream of returning to a simpler day. They yearn for more freedom. Less worry and more laughter. If only they could trade some of today’s complexity for yesterday’s simplicity.

American essayist and novelist Charles Dudley Warner said, “Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough.”

Rudyard Kipling yearned for less when he said, “Teach us to delight in simple things.”

Author Augustus Hare observed that “the greatest truths are the simplest — and so are the greatest men.”

Maybe it’s time to make a decision for greatness; a decision for simplicity. Maybe it’s time to let go of that which weighs you downand walk with a lighter step. Maybe it’s time to love life again.

Now even if you don’t play golf, the analogies below hold true. Truer than one might think. I think. :^)

PRECIOUS MOMENTS

I probably golf about as well as a slug wages war…. In fact, out of consideration for my friends (I embarrass them), I quit playing with anybody I know. It was too hard for them to watch. But I can still appreciate what a golf enthusiast said about the game.

He listed three mental techniques to improve one’s golf game. And the great part is this: these techniques not only help to improve a game, they can help all of us live better lives. They are mental attitudes that can help you and me live more in the moment and less in the past or the future. Here they are… golf tips for better living.

1. Resist the urge to add up your score as you go along. If you anticipate your score, you’ll be distracted from the task at hand.

In other words, live more in the present. Clear your mind of past mistakes and even past successes, and try to think only about the here and now.

2. Focus. Concentrate on hitting great shots rather than worrying about bad ones or what others will think if you miss. Visualize the ball going to your target.

This is a terrific technique for daily living. Focus. Concentrate on doing the present task well rather than worrying about what others will think if you should “mess up.” And get a picture in your mind’s eye of succeeding at the thing you are doing right now.

3. Keep your mind on the hole you’re playing. Don’t think about how you are going to play the last hole.
This is about resisting the urge to think ahead. If we pay close attention to the present, the future will take care of itself. Our present moment is full of power and wonder. It deserves our full attention.

Writer H.G. Wells once noted, “Man must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind him to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle and a mystery.” Anybody can get more out of life who concentrates on and cherishes the here and now – and we’re not talking about golf.

The present is too important not to pay attention to it. One doctor said, “I have learned from speaking to many cancer survivor groups that (when you have cancer) the watch on your hand no longer says, ‘Tick, tick, tick.’ It now says, ‘Precious, precious, precious.'” When the present moment is precious, everything else takes care of itself.

Gene asks: Now, did you notice what all of these tips have in common? They are not about understanding the past or setting goals for the future. They are simply about living in the present moment.

And then I note: That may be easier said, or written, than done, but it is wonderful advice anyway. I try to look at life as if this moment were the only ever. Because in all truth, it is. We are present only in each moment, the past is gone and unchangeable, the future yet to arrive and despite our best intentions and plans, we have no real idea what the next moment will bring. Anyone who has ever been surprised by the next moment, be it a call of warning or news, good or bad, or the spilling of that coffee cup on your keyboard, we simply are not constituted to “know” what the next moment will bring. Therefore the only moment we have, the only one we can affect, or make completely what we wish it to be is the present moment. And it is there that we live. Decide to make each of those current moments precious and see what sort of tapestry you build. Think of each moment as a brick in a road you are building that constitutes the path your life takes, or a brush stroke on the canvas that depicts your history as well as your future. See what happens when you worry only about enjoying the moment you are in, because, truthfully, there is no other moment at all. much love, :^) gene

If today brings even one choice your way
choose to be a bringer of the light :^) gene