Paulo Coelho, the Latin American who became an icon in today’s world. What do you dream of for the future, on a personal level as well as for humanity?
My dream for the future is to live the present. It is only through one’s presence in this world that things can truly manifest themselves. I believe that unfortunately too often men and women are absent from their actions and caught up in their fears, illusions and desires. One just needs to focus in the present moment and understand that the simplest things are the most extraordinary ones. With this knowledge everyone can first change itself and the world would simply follow.
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I like this answer so much. I used to be so involved in my dreams for the future, that the present would turn into a blur. I would strive to get there, get somewhere I wanted to be and I didn’t quite know if this is what was meant for me. So when it didn’t happen, my life felt void of purpose and I fell into depression… so many suffer the same thing for the same reasons.
But later I learned that I am blessed with today and I need to seize the day, make today meaningful, and enjoy the blessings I am given today. Who cares what comes tomorrow? Who cares if the world implodes? If that happens I would have lived today so well I would have no regrets facing struggle or even death. There are more reasons to rejoice in daily life than reasons to be sad focusing on what is not. And after coming a long way, I now can enjoy my daily blessings, from the weather, the delicious food on my table, my home and shelter to the small and kind actions of those who I love, their love for me, the tiny sacrifices I make in order to help others which brings me endless satisfaction and empathy, and the sounds of music and singing both in nature and in the city. All of it is planned by God to be my blessing of today and I am grateful for it now that I opened my eyes. It is this increased awareness that helps me see others through new eyes and my hopes and expectations of a change in the world begin to ripple through me and my immediate surroundings.
Just my thoughts! Love and peace to all! :D
zen :-)
Paolo –
I moved to Paris six months ago from the States. I have struggled with fears and illusions as a 40-year-old making a huge life-transformation, leading to much anxiety in learning to live in a new place where I do not speak the language and the unknown is around every corner. And this is from a woman who bravely lived and worked in China 18 years ago! A couple of days ago, a friend of mine came to visit from California. Yesterday was our first day out and about in Paris as two neophytes in the city. She taught me about living in the moment yesterday. The funny thing was that we wound up in the Virgin Megastore on the Champs-Elysées where I purchased “Brida” and started to read this morning. As I got deeper into the book, I began to cry as there are messages I needed to read and know in it. I sent powerful thoughts of love and gratitude to you as the recorder of the messages I needed to hear. I came online only to discover that you are in Paris, right now, about to deliver a speech on Love to the LiveWeb ’08 conference. To know that as I felt moved to buy the book yesterday, to read those words and send thoughts of gratitude, and then to find out you are within a few kilometers radius of where I sit typing these words right now is overwhelming. :)
Today, I go swimming again in the Deep End of Paris with a renewed sense of hope, love, and strength. I cannot thank you enough for being the messenger of hope to me today and I wish you the best as you address the LiveWeb audience this afternoon. I will probably be visiting the Sacré-Coeur as you speak, but know there is one in Paris who with gratitude is thinking of you as you do.
Your answer is what I should be repeating to myself over and over again.
Thank you, Paulo. This is precisely the message I needed to hear today – a reminder not to get too caught up in some illusory dream of the future, but to stay firmly rooted in the moment and work from here, utilizing the resources present. It is only here, in present moment, that I am near to the Divine. As soon as my mind jumps ahead, chasing desires that might or might not become manifest in the future, I feel far from God, separated from the Divine, as Adam and Eve when they were cast from the Garden. When I concentrate on the small things, in the moment, on what I CAN do, what I can accomplish here and now, I feel as though I am back in line with the will of God – not trying to defy it or work against it – and I feel the power of the Divine not only present in my life but working through me. There is nothing in the world so precious, so valuable, as that.
And thank you, Alexandra, for your wise words. As Paulo is forever encouraging us, we should seek to manifest our dreams. And yet, as you say, some dreams are nothing but grand illusions – the mind’s way of distracting from the present moment, from the tasks at hand. Sometimes the mind creates these dreams and sets them up ahead of us, like a mirage shimmering on the desert sands, and we think: “Oh, if only I can reach that goal, all of my troubles will be over – life, from that point on, will be different.” Then the mind further tricks us, because either it convinces us that we cannot really reach that goal, or the mirage itself forever shifts position, morphing into something slightly different, remaining forever just out of reach, a tempting paradise teasing the distant horizon. Meanwhile, we are so caught up in that image of perfect future that we forget to be attentive to the moment – we burn with desire for the springs we imagine to exist in that garden and forget the bulging skins we have right at our side, the water which we brought with us on this journey – in fact, the only water that can quench our thirst in the present moment.
I have to stop saying “someday…” and “if only…” and say “yes, now…!”
With fondest gratitude,
Savita
The consciousness is intrinsically powerful, contemplative and very artful. But what makes it complicated is its infinite contents, the interaction among its contents are like chemical reactions happening in our mind that release mist and smoke that enshrouds our minds and behind that mist, things start happening without our being able to observe them and interfere. What interferes then is the environment, societal norms and traditions that manipulate our consciousness and all types of negative contents keep growing stronger and stronger- hence fears, illusions and desires- which keep us apart from this very moment- the moment of joy and happiness.
Nice.I was expexting something like this.You are so right.Unfortunately,sometimes a dream is only a big illusion,and we might lose so much time hunting that “ghost”.
I think that the simple moments that are magical because we feel that we are ‘one’ with nature or with another person, are the treasures of our passing from this life.
These instantaneous minutes, that seem to reach eternity and leave their mark in our Souls, are the ‘simplest and most extra ordinary’, but at the same time the most valuable.
It is the ‘knowledge’ of the human destiny, but with the divine wisdom that offers us a glimpse of the Truth: Past, Present and Future are one.
Love,
Thelma
CARPE DIEM
Le bonheur est de profiter de chaque instant et d’être libre de profiter des petits bonheurs quotidiens qui nous sont offerts et que l’on peut partager
on est “libre” de vivre le présent si on n’est pas attaché à un passé qui nous empêche d’avancer ( marcher avec un gros boulet ou un petit boulet au pied est difficile / imaginez si vous avez envie de sauter de joie , de courir avec plein d’entrain ..avec un boulet impossible de profiter de chaque instant de bonheur )
on est “libre” de vivre le présent si on n’est pas attaché aux illusions, aux désirs d’un futur qui n’est pas encore (car les désillusions et les peurs de ne pas réussir les désirs ,que l’on veut d’un futur imaginé , nous retiennent prisonniers de nos actions présentes )
carpe diem : vivre le présent , l’instant présent .. “libre”.. de profiter de chaque instant dans le PRESENT afin d’être dans l’action positive ( détaché du passé de l’homme et de son propre passé , détaché de l’avenir de l’homme et de son propre avenir )
car nous construisons dans le présent , et le monde que nous voulons se construit dans chaque instant
Take each day as it comes, trying to improve myself and to keep fighting for what I believe is true for me regardless of what others may think.
From an humanitarian point of view I wish for a better understanding of each other, working through our differences without discrimination.