Problems don't exist in the present moment

[nistake]

Found a neat article. I know it's nothing new and this is not for the super-enlightened people here. Just a quick reminder:

 

Do you ever dwell on past events, wishing you done things differently?

Do you ever wish the weeks away, living only for weekends?

Do you ever catch yourself daydreaming, wishing you were somewhere else?

This is how many people spend their days, lost in thought, either projecting into the future or dwelling in the past.

But life is now.

Think about it. Is it ever not now? Is it ever not the present moment?

When you recall an event from the past, you recall it in the now. It is a memory trace, which can only be experienced in the present moment. It might seem real, but can you touch it, feel it, or act on it? No, you cannot.

It’s the same for future events. Can you touch, hear, or feel the future before it is now? Of course not. You can only imagine a probable future, which can only be done in the now.

Nothing ever happens outside of the present moment. Everything you’ve ever experienced, or will experience, happens in the now. EVERYTHING.

Problems don’t exist

Problems are not real. They are simply projections of your mind. Does this statement piss you off? I wouldn’t be surprised, especially if life is giving you a hard time. If this is the case, ask yourself: what problems exist right now?

Maybe you can’t afford the rent. Maybe you’re in a doomed relationship. You might even be physically unwell, or about to lose your job.

These are challenging situations for sure, but they are not problems. They only become problems when your mind gets involved.

So what’s the difference between a problem and a challenge?

Your ability to act.

Let’s say that you can’t afford to pay the rent. You might be worried about getting evicted, or finding somewhere else to live. But can you act on these problems? No, because they are not yet real. They are only probable futures, projected by your mind.

Challenges are different. Challenges are grounded in the present moment, and these you can act upon.

Let’s go back to the rent issue. What’s the challenge? What can you do now? Instead of worrying about getting evicted, you could apply for a part-time job, sell some belongings, or ask someone for a loan.

It’s the same for a failing relationship. Instead of agonizing over a potential break-up, maybe you need to discuss a sticky topic, change your behaviour, or actually break up.

You can do this with any perceived problem. Take a person who is suffering from ill health. This seems to qualify for a present moment problem. But it ’s not. The problems only arise when you start worrying about potential complications, or if you start fixating about your healthier old self.

I’m not saying it’s easy. Coping with ill health is a huge challenge — I’ve had my own struggles — but for any illness or physical pain, acceptance is the best course of action. This is backed up by a large body of research, but more importantly, acceptance is a challenge you can act on now.

Take away message

Nothing ever happens outside of the now. Every feeling, every action, and everything you will ever experience happens in the present moment.

Problems, on the other hand, are grounded in time. You might be sad about the past or worried about the future. But they cannot exist in the present moment, and as a result, cannot be acted upon.

Challenges are different. Challenges are based in the now and can be acted upon. This is critical. Because it’s only by acting, which is always in the moment, that you can make meaningful changes in your life.

https://medium.com/swlh/problems-dont-exist-in-the-present-645032cd1c5

[Preety_India]

 

It's very easy to simply forget problems by saying whoosh in the present moment and then you have awareness of your presence only. 

But in a more pragmatic sense, responsible individuals sit at a round table, brainstorm ideas and find ways to solve a problem, it's a way of bringing consciousness into action..

Life cannot be this simplistic as to simply be present in a moment and forget all your problems unless your life is comfy and you're cozying in a spa. 

 

 

[nistake]

@Preety_India Well, in my interpretation, this artictle doesn't say that forget all your problems since the present moment matters only and live happily ever after. It points out that problems should be resolved in a conscious way. If a problem arises, the mind tends to jump to conclusions and usually the unpredictable (and non-existent) future is heavily involved.

Instead of worrying and giving more power to anxiety, one could just ask him/herself: "Okay, this just happened. Since I can only take action in the present moment, what can I do to solve this issue?" Obviously this is easier said than done, but striving for this shift in consciousness is a great way to deal with problems.

Edited May 28, 2020 by nistake

[Preety_India]

@nistake

I'm having difficulty here. I kinda agree with you a bit but I also disagree. 

The agreement is this - I shouldn't get too neurotic about my problems and obsess too much because it will take up all of my mental space leaving me drained and frustration and not in a healthy state of mind to solve my problems. 

 

The disagreement is this - if I let all the fear and anxiety dissipate I'll be likely to either ignore my problem or not be too heavily or urgently invested in solving it because I don't have the real dreadful primal energy to get my ass off the couch and actually do something on a war footing. To get this primal motivation, I'll need some raw primal fear and anxiety, the way you get during a fight or flight response which will bring an impounding sense of fear and if I carefully manage this fear, it will motivate me to get stuff done quicker and forcefully with more energy and drive that I cannot artificially create in me. 

 

 

[nistake]

@Preety_India Yup, I think it's all about managing your fears and anxieties in a healthy way. The more self-awareness you have, the more you are able to step back and evaluate the situation before acting. That's where the present moment shines. 

By the way, you won't be able to lose your primal/primordial flight or fight response and you don't need to. It's a perfect "tool" to navigate in this world, but if one lets it run amok unconsciously, then it can cause wreak havoc.

Just a little side note: I'm speaking from experience, because I used to be a constant worrier. I worried about every little thing possible to the degree that it affected my well-being and body. If a problem arose, I immediately jumped to conlusions and I lived in imaginary future scenarios. If  I didn't have any problem, I unconsciously created them just to get something to worry about. No wonder my mental health was a mess

Edited May 28, 2020 by nistake

[fi1ghtclub]

15 minutes ago, Preety_India said:

The disagreement is this - if I let all the fear and anxiety dissipate I'll be likely to either ignore my problem or not be too heavily or urgently invested in solving it because I don't have the real dreadful primal energy to get my ass off the couch and actually do something on a war footing. To get this primal motivation, I'll need some raw primal fear and anxiety, the way you get during a fight or flight response which will bring an impounding sense of fear and if I carefully manage this fear, it will motivate me to get stuff done quicker and forcefully with more energy and drive that I cannot artificially create in me. 

You don't necessarily need this. It might be conditioning.

There are conscious ways to treat a problem by not treating it as a problem in the first place.

And then action still happens.

Inaction is still action whether you like it or not.

The problem already ceases to be a problem when you realize what you call a problem is just a mental view of it that doesn't have the power to affect you unless you let it.

[Verg0]

Great article! 

“No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.”

"Tomorrow and plans for tomorrow can have no significance at all unless you are in full contact with the reality of the present, since it is in the present and only in the present that you live.”

~Alan Watts 

Or another way to say it: "No Self, No Problem!" 

[Javfly33]

40 minutes ago, Preety_India said:

@nistake

I'm having difficulty here. I kinda agree with you a bit but I also disagree. 

The agreement is this - I shouldn't get too neurotic about my problems and obsess too much because it will take up all of my mental space leaving me drained and frustration and not in a healthy state of mind to solve my problems. 

 

The disagreement is this - if I let all the fear and anxiety dissipate I'll be likely to either ignore my problem or not be too heavily or urgently invested in solving it because I don't have the real dreadful primal energy to get my ass off the couch and actually do something on a war footing. To get this primal motivation, I'll need some raw primal fear and anxiety, the way you get during a fight or flight response which will bring an impounding sense of fear and if I carefully manage this fear, it will motivate me to get stuff done quicker and forcefully with more energy and drive that I cannot artificially create in me. 

 

 

No, you don't need an anxiety or fear to be motivated to sort out a problem.

Do you think engineers need to be anxious and fearful they going to be fired in order to come up with a solution each day for the problem they're trying to solve?

It's actually counterintuitive. Stress impacts the hability cognitive activity and intelligence, creativity...etc. 

It's has even proven that anxiety and fear impacts deeply negatively EVEN in physical "fight or flight" danger situations like fighting someone or like a dog chasing you. You clearly haven't fight anyone. If you ever have fight anyone, you will see that if you don't have "control" over your body primal/lymbic response, you pretty much will lose the fight, because the body gets so activated that it is counter-productive. That response of the body is actually a "bitch" even in kind of immediate danger situations. The first thing a good fighter master's is actually being chill and thinking calm, if you get lost in the limbic mind you will make a mess our of yourself. 

Edited May 28, 2020 by Javfly33

[Corpus]

"Now" is more nuanced than presented. Now, with a capital N occupies the same "space" for want of a better word as the Absolute, and has its own "Being" but for most (ie not enlightened folk) the experience of "the present/now" is like an echo insofar as Now Is, but once one has become aware of it by re-presenting it to one-self (without which one will not be "aware" of it), the Now has gone. 

 

Edited May 28, 2020 by Corpus

[Jacobsrw]

@nistake In essence, I agree with this. Ones state of being should stem from this understanding but equally reflect in action so as to create powerful change in presence.

Problems do not exist. All there is are simply matters of survival. Whether something either impinges upon it or supports it, that’s the only criterion. And even this is but pure bias and subjectivity.

The only trap one must be careful of, is to not rationalise the primacy of Now as a justification to behave mindlessly. The Now has a crucial responsibility to it. Far greater than most spiritual circles give it credit. The Now is not a happy place of escape nor a sad place of demise.

It is the fundamental place from which all places are hallucinated.

Edited May 28, 2020 by Jacobsrw