doyourules w/Cliché Jeff

Crafting the Story of Self Through the Power of Now

• Jeff

Share episode

Embark on a journey of self-discovery with us as we discuss the profound impact of living in the now, inspired by philosopher Alan Watts' insightful boat metaphor. We'll explore the enthralling concept that our past actions, much like the waves behind a boat, should not distract us from steering our lives towards the horizon of the present. Reflecting on the biblical narrative of Adam, Eve, and the serpent, we delve into the dangers of letting bygones dictate our present choices. This episode is a clarion call to refuse resting on past laurels or being haunted by previous missteps, and instead, to seize the power that each fleeting moment holds in crafting the story of our lives.

As we navigate the waters of existence, the choices we make chart our course to authentic self-realization. In this conversation, we'll unravel the idea that every tick of the clock is a chance to construct a bridge to our truest selves, a process where selecting our influences and taking the helm of our narrative plays a pivotal role. We embrace the role of creators of our experiences, a perspective that can dramatically shift the reality we inhabit. Celebrating the present as the bedrock of all potential and transformation, we encourage you to remain steadfast to your own identity and to cultivate the richness of your spirit. Prepare to be inspired to affirm your individual power and reclaim the essence of your moments.

Speaker 1:

Yesterday is history, tomorrow's a mystery. Today is the present, which is a gift from God, and that's our mission for today to talk about the present, or rather the moment, which, depending on who you talk to, who you listen to and what you know, is the key for those who struggle and the key for those who achieve maximum success in their one life. And the moment can be identified in a variety of ways, and I believe, as a culture, some of what we're trained to do is identify the moment as a clock, maybe on your watch. Well, we have phones these days, so we don't necessarily see the tick and the tock, but we know that the moment is fleeting, just like the hands on a watch or anything that tells time. And so what I want to discuss today, as far as continuing along that analogy of how to identify the moment, what the difficulty is in the moments and how you can possibly learn to dominate them, to achieve whatever it is you want to achieve in life, which, at minimum, should be feeling good about your life. I just watched, probably for the 11th time and I believe the universe does this intentionally right A talk from Alan Watts, who, if you don't know, is a phenomenal philosopher on life and he was explaining the moment and the power in it.

Speaker 1:

So follow me, he went first and if you would imagine a boat, imagine a boat in the sea. You're on this boat, you have a destination, you're going somewhere and the destination, truthfully, when applied to life, is it's an endless journey, at least until you clock out and die. That's where we're all marching towards, in the literally, in the literacy of life, is that you have an open-ended journey towards death. That's just factual. Anyhow, you're on this ship in the broad, broad and vast and you're going forward. Hopefully. What is happening as the boat is going forward? Theoretically, you should be looking out into where you are going. Boat is moving in the water it creates waves or ripple effect, which is an indication of the path and the journey the boat is on. Inevitably the ripples have a certain length and therefore you don't see, when you look back, all of the ripples, because the journey is long and, if you're watching, probably arduous, difficult and all kinds of crazy. But we have a tendency to look back on our journey as we are supposed to be moving forward, focusing on the ripples, the waves and what is left behind.

Speaker 1:

Therefore, not in the moment and when we do that, using another analogy that Alan used quite eloquently and just really just hit me in the soul man, he went biblical and he went to the story of Adam and Eve. And we know that, or most know that, or culturally we've been taught that God approaches Adam and he said didn't I tell you not to eat from the forbidden tree? Why did you eat this apple? And Adam says Eve told me to do it. Okay. So God goes to Eve and says Eve, why did you eat from this apple tree? And I told you not to eat from the serpent, told me to do it. And then God looks at the serpent who, must we not forget, was an angel, one of the most glorious angels on top of that and does he ask the serpent why did you do this? Or does the serpent even give a reason, an answer or rationale as to why? In all likelihood, as Alan put it, he probably just winked at God.

Speaker 1:

So what do you glean from that? Why do I believe that is so profound and could be a serious, serious inflection point for you as you attempt to move forward and take care of your moments, starting with the boat and the ripples and the waves and how this kicked off this talk. The past is history, it's gone. So the minute you're in the moment, looking back behind the waves you've left, you lose sight of and control of right now. And that is a real thing and a natural, more natural than I think we talk about as people to look back. And we look back for a multitude of reasons, mostly to quantify and qualify our existence and being and ultimately satisfy, soothe and coddle our ego, because otherwise, left to the moment, how else will we identify ourselves? And that is the ultimate conundrum in Quagmire that we feel the constant need to validate, explain and rationalize our existence. Because if we're on the boat and we're going somewhere and we're trying to make this make sense, this life thing, we have to have a reason, we have to have an absolute definition as to who we are. And if it's in the moment, but you're explaining it based on the waves that have been left behind, then your moment, by language, by default and by logic, your moment, the present, the gift, is dictated, predicated and defined as everything that has already happened and it's gone. And I think we get caught up in using the past to almost imply everything is fucked up now because it was fucked up then, but this includes your wins. You won yesterday. It's fucked up now because it was fucked up then, but this includes your wins. You won yesterday. It's gone.

Speaker 1:

So you can't dismiss or pick and choose and author your moment based on the past, including, which, ironically, is what you do anyway. You're going to pick and choose what makes most sense for you, but you can't be, or we can't, agree that to leave what's behind that's negative quote, unquote, or that you wish wouldn't have happened, or that could possibly limit you because of the devastation it caused, we can't choose to say, dismiss that because it's gone, without also saying you can't rest on your laurels. You were great yesterday, you were great last week, you were great for the past year or whatever. That means that's also gone, tiktok. You're back to the moment.

Speaker 1:

And if you leverage the serpent, the glorious angel, as the power of possibility for what the moment truly means the reality of the ripple, the waves and what has happened, or, for that matter, because we discussed tomorrow being a mystery if you're trying to answer in the present for what has already happened in the past or what you hope to happen in the future, based on what maybe happened in the past too, then you're also missing the moment. And the reality is this regardless of how you got to where you got to where you are today, you're still here and regardless if someone told you, who was told by someone who was told by someone who was told by someone to eat from the tree, you still ate from the tree. And, dismissing that, you ate from the tree, whatever tree you eat from today, because we're all eating from a tree of life, no matter how you got there, no matter what the waves are eliminating you from the equation, removes the power of authority, eliminates the power of possibility, destroys your moment, because you already ate it, digested it and probably enjoyed it. That's one of the things we lose sight of. It's not to say you can't reflect and agree and understand. Can't reflect and agree and understand. This is wisdom, right? I wish I wouldn't have. That's how you learn and ultimately make different decisions in the moment, but using the right now and dictating your pace, your steps and your path based on the waves or the difficulty you can't see or someone else's influence on you because we're all influenced and that's just life is eliminating the moment, the power, possibility and the accountability you need to make the decisions that will ultimately put you on the correct path to establishing the identity that you wish to have for your future, which only happens right now. And, ultimately, what this equates to is your ability, our ability, my ability to not just get on a boat and go somewhere, but to ultimately create enough moments where you're building a bridge forward, because it is healthy, important and conducive to overall stability for our mental capacity, and we do want to feel like we're making the right steps to build the bridge and look back and know I had a starting point.

Speaker 1:

I may not have liked where I started, but I don't have to stay there. Have liked where I started, but I don't have to stay there, and the only way to move forward is to make decisions in the moment that allow me to build a bridge to whatever root path and realization of self that I choose to be, the tree that I choose to eat from, the influences I choose to absorb, the power I choose to take over my life. We should not and we should and who am I to be saying with so much definitiveness? Because my authority is just my one person and one life. But I choose, then, and what I share for you to absorb and leverage, or whatever is that?

Speaker 1:

We are all creators and this is less about faith, less about the divine by definition, although I believe there's divinity within all of us. It's my choice to believe that. I'm not going to let you influence me the other way. But if I can believe, and you can believe, possibly, that you are a creator, then that tick and that tock, that hand that's moving on that clock, the imaginary clock of life, is always happening right now, and the acceptance of the right now is the acceptance of everything that comes with it, whether it's the waves that's behind us, the bridge that we're building or the journey that we see in front of us. The bridge that we're building or the journey that we see in front of us, losing sight of right now diminishes, releases and strips you of your ability to be maximized in everything you see and ultimately feel right now. It's all you really have. Change your mind, change your life. I am who I say I am. Stay rich.