The time is NOW….
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One of my favourite quotes from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld is found in ‘The Thief of Time’. It explains . .
“The first words read by seekers of enlightenment in the secret, gong-banging, yeti-haunted valleys near the hub of the world are read when they look into the Life of Wen the Eternally Surprised. The first question they ask is: “Why was he eternally surprised?”
And they are told: “Wen considered the nature of time and understood that the universe is, instant by instant, re-created anew. Therefore, he understood, there is, in truth, no Past, only a memory of the Past. Blink your eyes, and the world you see next did not exist when you closed them. Therefore, he said, the only appropriate state of the mind is surprise. The only appropriate state of the heart is joy. The sky you see now, you have never seen before. The perfect moment is now. Be glad of it.”
Sometimes we forget, as human beings, that the only moment that we can really enjoy is NOW. NOW is the only thing that really exists. The past is simply a patchwork of recollections, increasingly dimmed by the passing of time. The future is an assembly of conjectures, hypotheses, projections, hopes and fears. All we really have that we can do anything with… is NOW.
And NOW is the only point at which we have power. It is the fulcrum on which the earth moves, on which the lever pivots. The past has happened. Get over it. The future is yet to be. Look forward to it, but do not depend on it.
Immerse yourself in it. Enjoy it. Use it. Savour every single moment of it. Be surprised. Be delighted. Because NOW is the only place that you really exist.
