The key to living an exciting, fulfilling life, being happy, and being filled with personal power is simple, while perhaps not easy. It’s all about being in the now, or being in the present moment.

Linear time does not exist outside of our constructed reality. The current moment is actually all we ever have in terms of time, yet most people spend all of their time regretting the past or anticipating the future.

Most people live in the past and in the possible future. Almost nobody stays grounded in the now.

This is without a doubt at the very heart of every problem we face as a society, as a planet, and as a species. And certainly it’s the root of almost every individual problem you can imagine.

It’s difficult to do this topic “justice” in a short article. So many perceived problems can be allowed to melt away when one embraces the present moment entirely.

When our minds are focused entirely on being in our body and observing everything in the present moment as it occurs, we find no space for our petty problems and insecurities. We see the things that overwhlem us are niehter real in the purest sense or as powerful as we have made them out to be.

Infinite creativity and joy want to flow through each of us. And awareness of the moment is the key to unlocking a life of moment-by-moment bliss and excitement.

For thousands of years sages and teachers have urged people to remain mindful of the present. And for thousands of years people have struggled to heed these teachings.

In truth there is no need to struggle. All we need to do is allow and recognize.

To experience the now for yourself, simply become aware of the sensation of your body sitting in the chair you are now in. While noting this become aware of the sights and sounds, and other sensations that inhabit the moment with you.

Note the space between you and the other objects in the room. Finding space is a great way to return to the moment from any frame of mind.

See and feel the moment. Your mind will begin to drift but even a few seconds will give you a hint of the power and peace you’ll find in the present.

You don’t need any special knowledge or meditations to find the moment right now. And you don’t need anyone’s permission to continue allowing the moment throughout your day.

It takes practice and patience, and this is why most people either don’t try or stop trying after a short time. Most people are so addicted to their state of confusion and complaining they really don’t want to be happy anyway.

But you can find another way of relating to yourself and to life by simply observing and allowing to unfold the present moment. You may find a desire rises within you to return to the present often throughout your day.

This is the beginning of your awakening.

Obviously I’m “limited” by the same human perspective as anyone else when I start talking about the meaning of life and the nature of the cosmos. But accepting this reality and moving forward, it appears to me in the most profound way that self discovery is the true meaning of life.

Learning about, knowing, and transforming the self is the ultimate quest. And a lack of self examination is at the heart of every problem people in this society spend their time wailing and whining about.

It may even be true that not knowing the self is at the heart of the world’s political “problems” and staged controversies. But that’s a story for another article.

I can say with confidence that to the extent an individual chooses to ignore self discovery and taking an honest look within, he or she must be suffering. It’s both sad and pathetic really.

I know so many people who are miserable in this life. They are unhappy about a lack of money, a lack of fulfillment, and so forth.

But they are absolutely unwilling to look within for a solution. In fact they will let nothing bring them to the point where they submit to a journey of self discovery.

Anything going deeper than the evening news or the plot of the Sex And The City movie is taboo for the majority of our civilization. Staying as shallow and clueless as possible about all matters of the self and spirit is imperative it seems.

And thus, the suffering on a mass scale will continue. I’ve resolved not to let it bother me as much as it once did.

My task is my own self. And if it’s true the world I observe is really within me I should set to work on creating the vision I want, knowing the people in my world will benefit from this work.

In my mind there is no higher calling than an inward journey. The Tao Te Ching, Proverbs, and many other ancient texts compare the outward strength required to conquer armies with the inner power needed to master the self and say pointedly the latter power is the greatest.

By knowing the self we can know the ways of the Universe. For thousands of years humanity has known the meaning of life, and still it remains hidden in plain sight.

By making self discovery the most important part of your life journey you will leave the petty problems of modern society behind and become one with a higher purpose. It won’t matter what appears to happen on the face of the outer illusion, and in time the outer will conform to your inner vision.

Imagine a world where everyone took full responsibility for knowing his or her self and transforming that self into it’s highest aspiration. Such a transformation takes place on an individual scale, one mind at a time.

To have an abundant life you must first become a good receiver. This is an obvious fact many of us overlook.

By default a lot of us are lousy receivers. We downplay compliments, refuse to let others buy us lunch, and get hung up on exactly how we are “supposed to” get most of our money. This must change or we’ll stay (relatively) poor and frustrated.

Open yourself up to the gifts of the Universe and other people:

When someone pays you a compliment thank them.

If another person offers to buy your movie ticket, your meal, etc. take it and thank them!

Be open to getting money from anywhere and not just from your job or business. This is a big one… many times we obsess with our “primary” income stream and thus shut ourselves off from the flow of money from elsewhere.

Rejoice any time you receive even the smallest gift. If you find a dime in the parking lot celebrate out loud! If you get $1 off a grocery store item with a coupon be trhilled about it! Abundance comes in many forms and we should count them all as blessings to be grateful for.

By getting into this reception mode we create the vibration of joyful receiving. Hence we open the door to even bigger and better gifts from life.

Change the way you look at receiving for just one week and you’ll be shocked and amazed with your new results. Get into the frame of mind of deserving as much good stuff as life wants to throw at you and your cup will surely “runneth over“!