‘The past is history and the future a mystery, so all we have is the present’ goes the saying. The tragedy is that most of us completely miss out on this gift of life. Because all other forms of life live entirely in the present based upon pure instinct, I think we have projected our inability to do so upon our environment in a most destructive way. Our pathology, dependency and vulnerability have increased exponentially as we are locked and loaded by our conditioning to regret the past and worry about the future. As a result, our history is shameful, and our future is bleak. Clearly, we have failed as a species to live in the present, and the gift of life we have all received lies discarded, unwrapped and unappreciated in some dark recess like yet another boring Christmas present. Death can’t seem to come quickly enough, and yet deep down we all desire to really live.
My own experience of turn-around in 2022 gives me tremendous hope that our species in not entirely doomed, and that we can change our minds quite radically from our conditioned slavery to past and future, into practicing presence with all the commensurate benefits, especially PEACE, FREEDOM and JOY. I started the year clinically depressed, burnt-out, negative, lost and burdened with responsibility. I was dependent on medication and my recent prostate cancer diagnosis highlighted how poorly I was doing. Then came a whole posse of soul guides to my rescue, a collection of books written by wonderful, liberated, awakened individuals who had faced their demons, and chosen life. You can find them all listed on my home page at www.brianblem.co.za.
It certainly wasn’t easy to escape the cocoon of my conditioning, but escape I did, and the metamorphosis has been nothing less spectacular than how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. My mission is clear, to assist others practice the ancient art and science of presence, learning to mind your own business by nurturing your own incredible human nature. Once we have connected with this deep and magnificent energy, living in integrity becomes so much easier. We will instinctively know how to care for ourselves, each other and the incredible planet that sustains us. This metamorphosis of the entire human race will happen at a grass roots level. Bryce Courtney ‘In the Power of One’ reminds us of our personal autonomy and responsibility, which when understood and experienced, can completely change the course of human history.
So, for me, 2023 is a most exciting year. Twenty-three has been a special number in my life since meeting my wife back in the day. It’s her birthday number, the day I proposed, the day we married, and the day we remarried each other after separation and divorce. It speaks volumes about second chances in life, and I really hope that 2023 will be the human race’s second chance, the year when we each take up this gift of life, open it, and practice living in the present. I would love to show you how – psychologist in Fourways.