Soak Up the Now

September 29, 2021

Dear HRart Worker,

Do you know I host a podcast? I hope you do. For nearly six years, I have podcasted wiith the first episodes being filled with random rants and reflections that have now evolved to deep conversations with guests from a variety of industries. Nothing encompasses this more than our Podcast Book Club.

For the last two years, a small group of people have come together and committed to reading a series of books to further their personal and professional growth. They agreed to engage in weekly recorded conversations about their reading insights, and the result is a four-month series of episodes that creates a virtual book club that any listener can participate in.

The books chosen for the Book Club have been pulled from the long list of recommended reads from close friends and colleagues. One of our reads this year was A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. In it he talks about the significance of presence. This was not a new concept for me, yet he was able to elevate the power this concept truly possesses.

“Accepting means you allow yourself to feel whatever it is you are feeling at that moment. It is part of the is-ness of the Now. You can’t argue with what is. Well, you can, but if you do, you suffer.”
Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth

It is truly eye opening when we take a moment and realize how much of our time is spent dwelling in the past and obsessing over the future. The “what ifs” and “whys”, can be paralyzing and cause drastic stagnation. We literally become stuck out of fear or sadness, and what’s lost is the now.

I’ve come to believe that children are so happy because they feel and then they move on and live in the now. Feeling does not limit them for long, whereas when we get older, we hold on to that limitation much longer and sometimes we even fail to ever release it. Everytime I return to California to visit my family, I am almost instantly thrown into the chaos of grief from what I left behind and fear of what I may never have again.

This summer, I fought hard to release the past, because I didn’t travel across the country to suffer. I came to create new memories with the ones I love the most and I wanted to be there for all of it.

Regardless that this was my intention and true desire, releasing the sadness and fear is a hefty and messy feat. I spent days in a haze with a severe energetic, emotional hangover. Yet with each release I felt lighter and I had more space to absorb the now.

In this week’s episode of The HRart Rise Morning Show (below), I share about a relationship I definitely took for granted, my brother. I assumed that relationship would always remain the same, and I never anticipated a life where I spent 98% of my time without physical access to him. Hopefully this serves as a beautiful reminder to move beyond intention and make space to soak up the now.