Am I Non-Present?

“She had never forgotten that if you drink 

from a bottle marked ‘poison’ 

it is almost certain to disagree with you, 

sooner or later.” 

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Researchers have observed that only 

2% of our time is occupied by things 

that may actually be considered negative. 

We, however, are not content with that number. 

We continually inflate that number 

by dwelling on past hurts, 

or speculating about present events, 

or worrying about future scenarios. 

If we are “non-present” where we are at, 

we will almost certainly project negativity 

into our present realm.

Being non-present causes much 

of the dis-ease we face in our lives.

We have to consciously move away from 

negative spinning thoughts about our situations

and refocus our thoughts and bring ourselves 

back to quiet again and again.

When I stop to take inventory of my thoughts,

I actually have a lot of them--

and most of them are very positive.

But when I am not mindful, the ones that 

are negative crowd out all the others.

I can feel overwhelmed, fearful, anxious 

and insecure with just one thought, 

and then spend way too much time 

rehearsing and playing the scenario game.

Being non-present is the fastest way

to tip the bottle.

If it's true that only a small percentage

of our days are spent facing situations which

could be perceived as negative,

then we don't want to inflate those numbers. 

He wants our thoughts right because 

He wants us right.

He created us and ordered our minds

to be like His own--

so we could represent Him in this world

and so we would be whole.

He is always, always, always, good.