Living Fully: A Guide to Mindfulness and Presence
backtothepresent.net has designed a model represented in the following images that is intended to reflect a deeply interconnected approach to mindfulness and living fully in the now, centered around the three core aspects of our being:
Physical Gift: This is our tangible world of actions and health — how we move, what we do, and how we care for our bodies. Like the sturdy foundation of a house, our physical well-being supports everything else. It's the everyday stuff: eating right, exercising, and getting enough sleep. When we're physically well, we're set up to tackle life's other challenges.
Emotional Gift: This is the realm of feelings and relationships. It's like the weather of our inner world — constantly changing and affecting how we experience each day. By understanding and managing our emotions, like learning to ride the waves in an ocean, we can find balance and joy in our interactions with ourselves and others.
Spiritual Gift: This is the part that looks beyond the here and now, seeking meaning and connection with something greater. Picture a tree reaching its branches up to the sky; our spiritual life is always growing, searching, and finding joy in the things that give our lives purpose and depth.
backtothepresent.net acts as a compass, always pointing us back to the moment at hand. This mantra isn't just about what we're doing but how we're feeling and thinking in the moment. It's about being awake to the full experience of life: the solid ground beneath our feet, the heart beating in our chest, and the aspirations that lift our gaze upwards.
I am consciously aware of what it is that I am doing, feeling, and thinking.
I as well, am capable of freely choosing how to
utilize my time and energy efficiently,
by being aware, challenging, being patient, and honoring
my unique physical, emotional and spiritual gifts.
Continually challenging myself to be productive, be at peace and fulfill purpose;
having faith that the guidance I receive
will allow me to experience the joy available in my relationships with those I love.
Ultimately, allowing me not to be distracted from the present,
so that I can enjoy each and every moment of my existence!
Here's how it all ties together with the other concepts:
Time and Energy (Limited Resources): These are like the currency we spend on our physical, emotional, and spiritual Gifts. We have to budget them wisely, so we don't run out and can invest in what truly matters.
Actions, Feelings, and Thoughts (Manifestations): These are the expressions of our three Gifts. They're what others see and we experience: our actions in the world, our responses to life's ups and downs, and the ideas that pop into our heads.
Conscious Awareness and Free Choice (Unique Abilities): These are our superpowers. Conscious awareness is the spotlight shining on our moment-to-moment experiences. Free choice is the steering wheel that lets us drive our life in the direction we want to go.
Needs, Wants, and Desires (Satisfactions): These are the fuel for our journey. Needs are essential, wants are nice to have, and desires are the deep cravings of our heart and soul that guide us towards lasting joy.
Contentment, Happiness, and Joyfulness (States of Emotional Being): Think of these as destinations on our LIFE-MAP. Contentment is a cozy rest stop, happiness is the scenic lookout, and joyfulness is the ultimate road trip where everything feels just right.
Instinct, Intellect, and Intuition (Sources of Knowledge): These are our travel guides, each offering different advice. Instinct is the gut feeling, intellect is the travel book, and intuition is the local's tip that leads to the best-hidden spots.
Id, Ego, and Superego (Elements of Our Psyche): This trio is like the characters in our inner story. The id wants all the snacks, the ego tries to keep the trip on schedule, and the superego reminds us to send postcards home.
Awareness, Challenge, Patience, and Honor (Obligations): They're the road rules that keep us safe and sound. Awareness is keeping our eyes on the road, challenge is navigating the mountain passes, patience is dealing with traffic, and honor is respecting the journey of others.
Productivity, Peace, and Purpose (Agreements): These are the promises we make to ourselves on the trip. Productivity is getting miles under our belt, peace is enjoying the ride, and purpose is remembering why we set out on the trip in the first place.
Emotions, Behaviors, Responses (Intuitive Attributes): They're the signals we give to other drivers on the road — a smile, a wave, or a honk. They show how we're traveling and reacting to the journey.
By being mindful of these critical understandings and aligning our actions, feelings, and thoughts, we can effectively navigate the present moment, making the most of our time and energy. It's about steering our consciousness toward what's happening right now, using all the Gifts, abilities, and knowledge we possess to experience life to the fullest.Here's how our Manifestations fit within the larger context:
Actions: The things we do in the physical world, which can be aligned with our basic needs, helping us achieve contentment.
Feelings: Our emotional attitude to the world around us, which can lead to happiness when we satisfy our wants.
Thoughts: The spiritual aspect that connects with our deeper desires, which, when aligned with our intuition, can lead to a state of joyfulness.
The central idea of backtothepresent.net serves as a reminder to anchor ourselves in the now—paying attention to what we're currently experiencing and doing, what we're feeling at this moment, and what thoughts are occupying our mind. By focusing on these aspects, we can live more mindfully, making conscious choices that lead to a more fulfilled and joyous existence.
This representation acts as a practical tool for mindfulness, encouraging individuals to draw their attention back to what is happening in the present rather than getting lost in past memories or future anticipations. It makes sense as a part of your model, reinforcing the message that joy can be found in the here and now through the mindful acknowledgment and integration of our actions, feelings, and thoughts.
Here’s an integrated perspective on these Agreements:
Productivity and Physical Needs: This agreement emphasizes the importance of being productive in terms of addressing our basic physical needs. When we are productive, we effectively utilize our time and energy to take actions that satisfy our needs, which leads to a sense of contentment. This is about being proactive and industrious in ways that are tangibly rewarding.
Peace and Emotional Wants: Peace here is tied to our emotional wants. It implies that when we approach our wants from a place of emotional satisfaction, we can achieve happiness without the effort that is required to fulfill our desires. It is about harmonizing our emotions, striving for balance, and fostering happiness in our relationships and inner life. In today’s world, our ego has allowed us to create so much to want, it is now interfering with our peace, creating unhappiness. All that we have created for our pleasure is overwhelming us with our longing for more; more comfort, convenience, entertainment, and amusement.
Purpose and Spiritual Desires: Purpose is associated with our deeper, spiritual desires. By aligning our thoughts with purpose, we tap into our the utilization of our intuitive knowledge, fulfilling our truest desires and achieving joyfulness. This speaks to the importance of living a life that is not only driven by personal ambition but is also connected to a higher sense of meaning.
By focusing on these Agreements:
We utilize our physical Gifts to be productive and meet our needs.
We cultivate emotional intelligence to find peace and manage our wants.
We engage our spiritual awareness to live purposefully, realizing our desires.
Living joyfully in the present moment is the culmination of fulfilling these three Agreements. By consistently applying them, we harness our capacities to live a life that is rich and full — physically active and secure, emotionally balanced and happy, spiritually meaningful, and joyous. It's a dynamic process that involves continuously bringing ourselves backtothepresent.net to ensure our actions, feelings, and thoughts are aligned with these Agreements, thereby fostering a life of well-being and satisfaction.
Here's how the use of our Unique Abilities operate within the broader context of living joyfully in the present:
Conscious Awareness: This is the starting point in the cycle. It involves being fully aware of the present moment and all that it entails — our surroundings, our bodily sensations, the state of our mind, and the actions we're taking. It's about noticing without judgment and with clarity.
Free Choice: Stemming from this awareness, we then exercise free choice. This isn't random or impulsive but rather a deliberate selection of options based on our understanding and awareness. Free choice is the decision-making power that allows us to respond rather than react.
backtothepresent.net: The phrase and central concept in the image encourages a continual return to the present moment. It serves as a reminder that no matter where our feelings, thoughts, or circumstances may take us, we always have the option to return to now — to ground ourselves in the reality of this moment. We are in control of our consciousness and we can’t forget that.
The Cycle: The arrows suggest a continuous loop. As we exercise free choice, the outcomes and experiences it generates inform our conscious awareness, which in turn guides our next choices. It's a dynamic interplay, with each element feeding into and shaping the other.
Integration with the three Agreements: The concepts of productivity, peace, and purpose are interwoven with this cycle. Our conscious choices should aim to increase productivity in fulfilling our physical needs, cultivate peace in satisfying our emotional wants, and find purpose in aligning with our spiritual desires.
Living Joyfully: By engaging in this cycle of awareness and choice, we can more effectively navigate our lives, steering towards actions, feelings, and thoughts that foster joy. Living joyfully in the present moment is about being engaged with life as it unfolds, actively choosing, and participating in the creation of our own lived experience.
Our Intuitive Identity shapes much of who we are. It is characterized by these three components.
Emotions (Feelings and Thoughts): This is where internal experiences are processed. Feelings are the emotional responses we have, and when combined with our thoughts — which include our beliefs, perceptions, and attitudes — they form our emotions. Emotions are complex and nuanced; they are not just felt in the moment but also informed by cognitive processes that give them context and meaning.
Behaviors (Thoughts Leading to Actions): This is the outward expression of our internal state. Our thoughts often guide our decision-making and intentions, which then manifest as actions. The behaviors we exhibit are therefore a combination of our thoughts and the actions we take based on those thoughts. These are the behaviors that others can observe and are reflective of our personalities in the present.
Responses (Actions Provoking Further Feeling): This pertains to how we react to situations, often on a more instinctive level. Our actions can elicit further feelings, both in ourselves and in others, leading to responses. For example, an act of kindness can provoke feelings of gratitude, which can then elicit a warm response from another person.
Intuitive Identity: This encompasses the integrative experience of our emotions, behaviors, and responses in the present moment. It's a part of our Identity that's guided by intuition — an inner knowing or gut feeling that often bypasses conscious reasoning. This aspect of Identity is dynamic and constantly evolving as we interact with our environment and reflect on our experiences.
backtothepresent.net: At the center of all this is the idea of being grounded in the current moment. By focusing on the "Back to the Present," we are encouraged to integrate our actions, feelings, and thoughts in a mindful way, leading to an authentic and intuitive way of being.
Thus, Intuitive Identity is a product of the interplay between our emotional landscape, our cognitive processes, and our physical actions. It is an Identity that is deeply rooted in the present, responsive to the current environment, and engaged with the immediate experience. This understanding of the Intuitive Identity as a combination of emotions, behaviors, and responses enriches the model by providing a practical way to look at how we construct our sense of self and navigate the world.
How we learn to utilize our Limited Resources is critical to our well-being:
Time and energy are our most finite resources, and how we allocate them across our three inherent Gifts — the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of our being — determines the quality and direction of our lives.
Physical Gift: Time and energy invested in our physical Gift are easily observed. It's the daily routines, the meals prepared, the miles run, the rest taken. Imagine time as water and energy as sunlight in the care of a garden, our physical body. We must water regularly and ensure adequate sunlight to maintain the health of the garden. This is akin to routine exercise and proper nutrition, which require consistent time and disciplined energy expenditure. When we tend to our physical needs, we lay the groundwork for overall well-being.
Emotional Gift: Energy directed toward our emotional Gift involves cultivating an awareness of our feelings, and engaging in activities that bring us happiness. Time here is like the hours spent listening to a friend, the moments taken to reflect on one’s feelings, and the energy is the empathy and emotional effort we put into these interactions. Akin to cultivating a piece of music, our emotional lives require practice, patience, and the willingness to be present with others and ourselves.
Spiritual Gift: Using time and energy on our spiritual Gift can be thought of as investing in the invisible threads that connect us to something larger than ourselves. It's the time spent in meditation or prayer, the energy devoted to understanding our place in the universe, or the pursuit of our life's calling. The metaphor here might be the building of a telescope; we invest time in its construction (study, contemplation) and energy in its use (practice, application), so we can see further into the depths of the cosmos, seeking meaning and connection.
Balancing these investments is key. Too much time and energy in one area can lead to neglect in another. Imagine a juggler with three objects representing the physical, emotional, and spiritual Gifts. Each throw and catch is an investment of time and energy. The skill lies in keeping all three in harmony, recognizing when one is falling and needs more attention, and when one is soaring and can be left to coast for a while.
In essence, living mindfully means being like a wise investor with our time and energy, distributing these resources to grow our three Gifts equally. The diagram places "Back to the Present" at the center to remind us that this balance is achieved in the now, not in our past regrets or future worries, but in the continuous flow of present moments where we choose how to spend each drop of time and each ounce of energy.
What are the basic Satisfactions we strive for?
Throughout history, people have always had basic needs, wants that provide temporary happiness, and deeper desires that bring true joy. Here's a simplified overview:
Needs are essential for survival—food, shelter, and safety. These needs drove our ancestors to innovate, form communities, and seek social connections like love and friendship. Fulfilling these needs offers contentment, laying the foundation for greater well-being. For example, preparing for an exam requires basic needs like food and sleep to be met, much like our ancestors needed safe environments. Support from friends or family also reflects the ancient need for belonging.
Wants are about things that make us temporarily happy, such as the latest gadgets or fashion. They're not essential for survival but can boost our mood or social status momentarily. However, this happiness is fleeting, leading us to chase new wants continuously. Imagine getting a new smartphone; it excites you at first, but soon you're eyeing something else.
Desires represent what's truly important to us, like personal growth, connecting with others, and making a meaningful difference. Fulfilling these desires provides a deeper, lasting joy that's aligned with our values and purpose. For instance, volunteering or pursuing a dream to help others goes beyond immediate needs or wants, offering a sense of fulfillment and connection to a larger cause.
In summary, while our needs are crucial for basic well-being and wants can offer short-lived happiness, it's our deeper desires that lead to enduring joy and fulfillment. Pursuing these desires connects us to something bigger, enriches our lives, and impacts the world positively.