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Personal growth: Avoiding the trap of psychological time May 14, 2017

Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Concept of personal growth, Living in the Now.
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By Dennis Mellersh

It is almost impossible for us to be happy in our current life if we remain anchored to the counterproductive habit of focusing on “psychological time” according to Eckhart Tolle.

Psychological time as Tolle describes it is an artificial intellectual construct in which we use our present moment, or the Now, to focus on the past, which we can no longer physically access, and the future, which is also impossible to physically experience.

The past is totally inaccessible, even though its influence exists in the present, and the future can only be influenced by what we do right now in the present moment.

The past inevitably contains some actual disappointments and the future might be full of potential disappointments; both time periods feature many “what-if” questions.

Tolle suggests that we can ask ourselves a simple question to see if we are being “taken over” by psychological time and dwelling on the past and the future, instead of fully experiencing the present moment:

“Is there joy, ease, and lightness in what I am doing? If there isn’t, then time [the past and the future] is covering up the present moment, and life is perceived as a burden or a struggle,” Tolle suggests.

With the present moment darkened both by past disappointments and regrets, and also by thoughts of potential future negative events it is not surprising there is little joy in the present.

Tolle believes that “When you act out of present-moment awareness, whatever you do becomes imbued with a sense of quality, care, and love – even the most simple action. (1)

In contrast with psychological time, when you are fully involved in the present, in the Now, perhaps working on finishing a project that fully absorbs your attention right now, you are in “clock time” according to Tolle.

(1) Eckhart Tolle, Practicing The Power of Now, New World Library, Novato, California, 1999, 142 pages

Positive potential of living in day-tight compartments January 13, 2016

Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Living in the Now.
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By Dennis Mellersh

A common piece of advice from personal development experts is that if we are to fully achieve our personal growth potential we need to live in day-tight compartments.

Stop regretting the past; don’t worry about the future. Live in the “now.”

Unfortunately, not only is this very hard to do, it’s also counterproductive.

Perhaps we can somehow train ourselves to not regret past actions or inactions, and maybe we can will ourselves not to worry about our future concerns.

However, the past and its implications are still there; and the future with its unfolding challenges will arrive.

By trying to (1) forget the problems and regrets about our past and (2) not be concerned about the future we are reducing our ability to manage our lives.

Instead, what we can do today, is to engage in actions that may help to correct some past actions/inactions and also improve our future prospects.

In many cases, we can alter those aspects and consequences of past that are still unfolding and we can also improve upon the developing future.

But, we can only do it within the day-tight compartment we are living in today.