Present moment awarenes? What the heck is that?

(Taken from: "Present Moment Awareness: A Simple, Step-by-step Guide to Living in the Now" by Shannon Duncan)

One moment of total awareness is one moment of freedom and enlightenment.

Denial is when someone sees what is happening but his or her mind refuses to recognize or accept its reality.

Aside from the laws of physics, we are only limited by our beliefs. Many of us live our lives confined within a distorted vision of reality, which drastically limits our potential to experience a deep and lasting enjoyment of our lives.

It is a sign of mental health to question the validity of our own thoughts, which is an acknowledgment of the liquid nature of truth. When our perception of the present is colored by the past, our beliefs are distorting reality.

Swim or drown; it is your choice.

Think of the ocean as life. We cannot argue with forces of such awesome power. Like the ocean, much of life moves, changes, and evolves in ways over which we have no influence. In fact, there is very little over which have any real influence. We have a choice. We can grip our situation and bliendly struggle against an insurmountable power, or we can accept what is and discover the currents that will move us in the direction that is right for us. Although some emotions may seem unpleasant, we must fully embrace and accept all of them if we wish to avoid their control of us. The way out of needless suffering is to fully accept the reality of whatever we are feeling. Through our acceptance of our feelings we can give ourselves more space. This allows us the room we need to take an objective step back and better see the reality of any situation at hand. When we are not absorbed in emotional turmoil, we are at peace, meaning we are still and quiet inside. The stillness of this space is the essence of inner peace. Whenever we feel overwhelmed by emotions, a shift in perspective becomes our salvation. (---) we always have more space available within us than any emotional reactivity could ever fill.

We must always try to remember that anything we feel is okay and that it is the action we take that counts. We can’t always help it if someone hits an insecurity we have and invokes anger, sadness, or some other feeling. But, we do have the opportunity to control how we respond. Our jailer, reactivity is also our path to freedom.

Have you ever questioned the reasoning behind your reactions?