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Ep42 Eternal Now

Hello and Welcome to the Way of the Emotional Warrior Podcast. My name is Kai Ehnes and today we will be answering the question of: Is there really any other time than now?

I recently came across an interesting piece of research which talks about an emotion called “acedia.” It means being listless, low energy, anxious. The inception of the term was describing what monks have to process through as they enter their monastic life. Much of their time is spent in isolation and the proverbial walls of their cloister cells tend to cave in on them. What really stuck out was the line, a mind seized by this emotion leaves the person unable to stay still and unable to devote any time to what one actually wants to do. In our house we call it antsiness. Of course you like your place and those close to you but all you want to do is break out.

In terms of our pandemic lockdown situation, I think it really challenged our ability to spend time with ourselves. There are many reasons why this has been difficult but among some of the highest is much of our pre Covid lifestyle revolved around a bombardment of information and frenzy of energy to match it. What we call busy lives may be more along the lines of doing so many things and many of them at the same time that there is no time for being at peace by ourselves.

One of the main goals of an emotional warrior is gaining internal peace. Often it is called being at peace. Apparently this harder than most people think. The moment TV, phone and computer/internet energies cease one simply does not know what to do. There are online courses on how to detox from some of this incoming energy...irony. However, there is validity to the idea that humans need to spend some time just Being, being at peace in their environment.

Emotional Warriors know to insert this into their lives. It could be as simple as scheduling time to do so. Maybe Friday starting at 5pm all electronics shut down for 1 hour and then slowly build up to 24 hours. With enough practice a healthy balance will emerge.

This brings us to the main topic of this episode…the Eternal Now. This is often referred to in philosophy and literature. The eternal now is at the end of the day the only reality we can be in. The past has happened, it can not be changed and too many people wallow in it either for longing or regret. The future is great but can on happen down the road. There is the ever present Now one has to move through to get there.

That is why I spoke earlier about all the distractions. Too many distractions simply do not allow for living in the Now. All news is the past. It already happened. Of course it is important to be up to date on worldly events but constant news updates do not allow for being in the Now.

Why is the Now so important? Consider the idea that we only can live and make decisions in the Now. An emotional warrior seeks freedom. In other words its all about emotional freedom. It makes sense that emotional freedom happens in the domain of the Now. Making choices in the Now about the Now and for the Now means that you are present. Of course you have to set goals. That is a separate topic. For now, lets clarify the point.

Acedia is a type of restlessness that leads to emotional energy running amuck. There is no emotional direction or focus. How can you make choices that help you increase the quality of your emotional, spiritual and physical life when you are simply reaction to incoming energy that is in a frenzy.

The point is to settle down your energy. Once you settle down you can spend more time being present and living in the Now. You will be happier because you can actually concentrate on yourself and clean up your interior world. This will let you be a better person not only for yourself but those close to you and your community.

The eternal now is our plane of reality. It is where we live and operate as human beings. This leads to being emotionally balanced which...