Now Is New!
I had the most interesting and life changing experience a few weeks ago. It was so mind blowing that I just had to share it with you. I was at one of the local restaurants for dinner with a couple of friends and we were discussing being in the moment and how life would be if we could erase the past perceptions about certain experiences and always operate from the perspective of now is new.
Now this may seem like a bit of a weird dinner conversation and you may not have a clue what I am writing about. So here’s the thing. Every experience you have had in your life is written as a memory in the energy system of your body . . . it is recorded there. This is how we learn to do repetitive actions like riding a bicycle or driving a car. We need that memory to gain the skill. Even playing tennis or golf cause us to create a memory pattern of what to do where and when.
Think about being with the person you love, (or if you are not currently in a relationship or marriage think about a past one). Do you or did you experience that person from a now is new perspective each time you were together or from a same old, same old perspective? My guess is that if you are like me and my friends your significant other has become a bit of same old, same old, unless of course you are choosing to experience that person from the now is new perspective.
I bet you’re wondering what this has to do with dinner with friends. I’m getting there. Patience please!
Ok, so we were having this lively discussion about now is new and it was fun and playful too. Bet you can guess where we were going with it all. One of my friends said he was going to try this out when next with his partner. It was all just great until . . . drum roll . . . my appetizer was served. (As a side note you need to know this was an item I had ordered and enjoyed at this restaurant before). So there it was and what was my reaction?
First: It doesn’t look the same!
Second: It doesn’t smell the same!
You do get where this is going right?
Third: It doesn’t taste the same! Not nearly as good as it has been in the past.
YIKES –
So my friends being the loving and supportive beings that they are say, to me, and I quote; “NOW IS NEW”
I was taken aback really. After all I am the coach! Hmmm. Now is new, yes let’s test this.
I had to stop and think about erasing all cellular memory I had for how I expected this appetizer to be. Then I looked at it again and it looked yummy. It smelled yummy too and when I tasted it I had a new experience.
Wow. How simple really to release expectations of how something “should be” and allow yourself to simply be present to a now is new experience.
What if instead I had gone with the “this isn’t as it should be” story line? How would my evening with friends have been? I would have been focused on what is wrong instead of what is great.
Since this wonderful dinner with friends we have all had a variety of experience that have shown us the value of letting go of our expectations about how things should be and allowing them to show up as they are. In the place of now is new everything is better.
I want to share with you 3 ways to play with this concept and begin integrating a now is new approach in your life.
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Walk around the place you live with an intention of seeing things that you have not seen before. Do this slowly with presence and awareness. You can be indoors or outside. No multi tasking here so leave the cell phone where you cannot hear it. Continue until you have 3 new things in this area. Do this daily for a week.
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Choose a color like yellow, purple, magenta or turquoise and notice today everything that you see that is that color. You will be surprised at what you notice when you choose to focus on something specific.
- Experience your partner or someone in your life as though you have never had the experience you are about to have before. Expect to be open and present with out preconceived ideas of how it will be. Pretend this is the first time you are together. What do you notice?
Quantum physics has shown us that we see what we expect to see and get what we expect to get.
There is a distinction between the idea of having an expectation of how something will be and expecting success as we are open to all possibility.
Will you choose to expect success!
P.S. My friend had a very now is new experience with his partner and let me know that this approach does change things. Thanks for testing that for me!