Calendar Books by Allen James - Daily Reading - The Journey: A Calendar Book

 Browse/preview/purchase the Allen James' publication which fits your needs, or possibly your gifting needs, at:

www.lulu.com/spotlight/allenjames1961 or
www.jamesharryman2002.wix.com/allenjamesbooks

Allen James' thought for January 22nd, from The Journey: A Calendar Book reads;

"Focus on today - then tomorrow" (James, 2012)

How often do we spend our to-days worrying about what's going to happen tomorrow?  I maintain we spend most of our to-days in tomorrow, not appreciating the "here and now", but concerned about those things over which we have no control.

What does it mean to live fully in the present moment? It means our awareness is completely centered on the here and now. We cease worrying about the future or pining over the past.  When living in the present, we are living where life is happening. In reality, the past and future are only illusions, they don’t exist.  Recalling the saying, “tomorrow never comes” puts this in perspective. Tomorrow is only a concept, tomorrow is always waiting to come around the corner, but around the corner are shadows, never to have light shed upon, because time is always now.

If we’re not living in the present, we’re living in illusion. But how often are we worrying about things which are yet to be, or will never be?  How often do we set ourselves up for disappointment about things which have not come to pass? Again, I maintain the answer is too much. Not only will living in the present have a dramatic effect on our emotional well-being, but it can also impact our physical health. It’s long been known the amount of mental stress we carry can have a detrimental impact on our health. If we’re living in the present, we’re living in acceptance. We’re accepting life as it is now, not as how we wish it would have been. When we’re living in acceptance, we realize everything is complete as it is. We can forgive ourselves for the mistakes we've made, and we can have peace in our heart knowing everything which should happen will happen.

As humans, we love to create stories. We love to listen to other peoples' stories and compare them with our own. This is beautiful. In a way we could say the entire universe is based on one collection of stories, a cosmic story. The problem is when we feel the need to create a story about everything, we are living entirely in the world of symbols. We confuse the world as it is, with the way we think about it, talk about it and describe it. Reality though, is not a concept. When we realize this we are able to return to a state of peace and stillness.
Focus on today - then tomorrow....and always, keep looking up.  :)  AJ