The Precious Present

Then, just as quickly
as he had discovered it,
he let the joy of
The Precious Present
evaporate.
He slowly lowered his hands,
Touched his forehead, and frowned.
The man was unhappy-
once again.
â?oWhy,â? he asked himself,
â?odidnâ?Tt I see the obvious
long ago?
Why have I missed so many
precious moments?
â?oWhy has it taken me so long
to live in the present?â?
As the man remembered his fruitless
travels around the world in his
search for
The Precious Present,
he knew how much happiness
he had lost.
In the past, he had sensed
what he thought was
imperfect
in too many moments.

He had not experienced what each
special time and place had
to offer.
He had missed a great deal.
And he felt sad.
The man continued to berate
himself.
And then he saw what he was doing.
He observed
That he was trapped
by his guilt about his past.
When he became aware
of his unhappiness
and of his being in the past
he returned
to the present moment
And he was happy.
But then the man began to worry
about the future.
â?owill I ,â? he asked, â?obe able to know
the joy of living in
The Precious Present
tomorrow?â?
then he saw he was living in the future
and laughed-
at himself.
He listened to what he now knew.
And he heard
the wisdom
of his own voice.

It Is Wise For Me To Think About The Past
And To Learn From My Past
But It Is Not Wise For Me
To Be
In The Past.
For That Ss How I Lose
My Self.
It Is Also Wise To Think About The Future
And To Prepare For My Future.
But It Is Not Wise For Me
To Be
In The Future.
For That, Too, Is How I Lose
My Self.
And When I Lose My Self
I Lose What Is Most Precious
To Me

It was so simple
And now he saw it.
The present nourished him.
But the man knew
it was not going to be easy.
Learning to be in the present
was a process he was going to have to do
over and overõ?Ư
again and againõ?Ư
until I became a part of him.
Now he knew why
he had enjoyed being with
the old man.
The old man was totally
present
when he was with the younger man.
The old man was not thinking about
something else
or wishing he was
somewhere else.
He was fully present.
And it felt good
to be with such person.
The younger man smiled at himself,
the way the old man used to smile.
He knew.

I Can Choose To Be Happy
Now
Or I Can Try To Be Happy
Whenõ?ƯOr Ifõ?Ư
The man chose NOW!!!
And now the man was happy.
He felt at peace with himself.
He agreed to savor
each moment in his life
at perfectõ?Ư
the apparent good
and the apparent badõ?Ư
Even if he didnõ?Tt understand.
For the first time in his life,
it didnõ?Tt matter.
He accepted each of his precious
moments on this planet as
a gift.

I Know That Some People Choose
To Receive The Precious Present
When They Are Young.
Others In Middle Age.
And Some When They Are Very Old.
Some People, Sadly, Never Do.
I Can Choose
The Precious Present
Whenever I want.
As the man sat
thinking, he felt fortunate.
He was who he was
where he was.
And now he knew!
He would always be
who he was
where he was.
He listened again to
his own thoughts.

The Present Is What Is.
It Is Precious.
Even If I do Not Know Why.
It Is Already Just The Way
It Is Supposed To Be.
When I See The Present,
Accept The present, And
Experience The Present
I Am Well, And
I Am Happy.
Pain Is The Difference
Between What Is
And
What I Want It To Be.
When I Feel Guilty
Over My Imperfect Past,
Or I Am Anxious
Over My Uncertain Future,
I Do Not Live In Present.
Then, I Experience Pain.
I Make Myself Ill
And I Am Unhappy.
My Past Was
The Present.
And My Future Will Be
The present.
The Present Moment
Is Only Reality
I Ever Experience.
As Long As I
Continue To Say
In The Present,
I Am Happy Forever:
Because Forever Is Always
The Present.
The Present Is Simply
Who I Am
Just the Way I Amõ?Ư
Right Now.
And It Is Precious.
The Precious Present
Is Something Precious
I Can Give To
And Receive From
Myself.
For I Am Precious.
I am the Precious Present.

The man smiled.
Then he grinned. It was as though he
could hear the old man talking.
And then his grin widened
And he laughed.
He felt a great joy.
He knew he was listening,
not to the old manõ?Ư
but to himself!
It felt good for him to be with
himself
just the way he was
at that moment.
He felt he had enough.
He felt he knew enough.
He felt he was enough.
NOW!

He had finally found
And accepted
The Precious Present.
And he was completely happy.
Several decades laterõ?Ư
The man had grown
into a happy, prosperous,
and healthy old man.
One day a little girl came by.
She liked to listen to õ?othe old man,õ?
as she called him.
It was fun to be with him.
There was something
special
about him.
but she didnõ?Tt know
what it was.
On one special day,
the little girl began to really listen
to the old man.
Somehow she sensed something
important in his calm voice.
He seemed very happy.
The little girl couldnõ?Tt understand why.

õ?oHow could someone so old,õ? she
wondered,
õ?obe so happy?õ?
She asked,
and the old man smiled.
Then he told her.
All of a sudden,
the little girl jumped up
and squealed with delight!
As the girl ran off
to play,
the old man smiled.
For he heard what she had saidõ?Ư
õ?oWow!õ? she exclaimed.
õ?oI hope someday
someone
give meõ?Ư
The Precious Present.
Moonlight and love songs - never out of date
Hearts full of passion - jealousy and hate
Woman needs man - and man must have his mate
That no one can deny