A Million Possible Nows.
The moment you are reading this could have happened so differently. You could have scrolled on by, ignoring the words and the picture. You could have decided to take the day off Facebook.
You could even have been born in a country where English wasn’t a language you learned, and so you never got to read whatever this strange guy on the internet writes about.
Your life could have turned out so differently.
There are so many different possibilities that could actually be occurring right now that calculating the odds of this exact moment, this Now, happening in this precise way at this exact time takes way more math capability that I have, or would ever want. Yet every moment you have ever arrived at has had three very particular components.
Choice, intention, and chance.
You could say that it’s not your choice be here, but that would be wrong. Sure your alternatives might be much worse, so that this was the obvious choice (although not one you necessarily wanted) but there was a choice involved.
I chose my wife (best decision of my life) and she chose me (she’s normally very rational, so don’t judge her by that one).
Our intention was to live happily ever after.
And then chance showed up. Yet even in the midst of the chaos and confusion that is this crazy universe that we live in, there have still been choices that have led to the NOW in which I am writing this work.
Some of those choices have been good ones, some I’m still trying to learn from.
But of all the possibilities that exist, this is the one I find myself in.
And when you understand that there are a million possible Nows that could be occurring, you realize that some of them may not be as pleasant as the Now that is now.
Because there are some Nows that could be filled with sorrow and pain, and while I have no desire to live through them, I can learn from the possibility of them, so that I might more fully appreciate the Now that I am currently living in.
When you consider all the possible Nows, this one becomes amazing.
I am fully aware that there could be a Now in the future where my wife is no longer here, so I cherish her presence in my life today, and hope never to take her for granted, although I’m sure I do. I am also aware that there is a Now where my health is not as it now is, and so I try to maintain the health I am blessed with.
I could go on and on, but I think you get my point.
When you understand how fragile and amazing Now actually is, it will change that way you think about your life.
You’ll make better choices, knowing that you have the capacity to influence, if not determine, the Nows that you’ll experience later. You’ll feel stronger, knowing that the Now you are currently experiencing could be very much worse, and you’ll treat the Now that is now with the respect it deserves.
Because all we have is Now, and you are living it, deciding it, changing it, and feeling it.
Now is everything, and you can do so much with it.
Are you ready? You can start any time, but I would recommend Now.
— Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings