Leaning into Presence: Presence Tool 13

Inner Frontier
Fourth Way Spiritual Practice

Inner Work

For week of December 28, 2015

Leaning into Presence

The defining human quality is our power to choose. And one of the defining measures of our life is the degree to which we choose to live it. So often we are indifferent to particular moments, like the simple routines of our life. Or if not indifferent, we might rather not be experiencing this moment, we might rather have it end soon so we can move on to the next situation, the next moment. Behind our indifference, dislike, and rejection, we hide our inner face from too much of our life. And that is our opportunity, our opening to live more fully.

We can choose this moment, this precious, singular, once-in-a-lifetime moment, as it is, warts and all, pleasant or unpleasant, routine or unusual. We can choose to live this moment. We can choose to be here, to participate in this moment, to experience this moment. Even if we do not like it, or do not care, we can still make this moment the time of our life, which it certainly is.

This is not to say that we should not work to improve ourselves and our circumstances. But we would be well served by not allowing our dissatisfaction to keep us from living the life we have.

Our entire life is a finite series of moments. Each one matters, because it happens only once. Each one that we do not experience, or only half-experience, effectively shortens our life, because that moment is lost to us forever. Each one that we do experience enriches us, regardless of its particular content or circumstance, because we make it ours. This is my time. This is my life, all of it.

To be clear: we know that our senses continue to function, more or less, in every waking moment. The question is whether and to what extent we ourselves are in touch, in contact with what our senses are bringing us. If we ourselves are in contact, we call that being present or having presence. So to be in contact, we choose our life as it is right now, we turn our inward face, our attention, our self, fully toward this moment. We arrive here with both feet. We lean into presence. Whether or not we like where we are, who we are with, what we are doing, or how we are feeling, we have this power to choose to live it fully, to be here in it, to participate in it, to make it ours.

By choosing this moment, we transcend the fog of indifference or rejection that all too often enshrouds us. Leaning into this moment penetrates that fog and reclaims that bit of life for us. We inwardly step forward into now and ride that crest of the endless wave of time.

We lean into our body. We lean into our mind. We lean into our heart. We lean into our senses and our experience.

For this week, please practice leaning into presence and thereby lean into your life.

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