Living in the Now

I was at a hockey game last week and there were two little girls in the row ahead of me. One was there with family and was was the friend. I'm going to guess they were about 9 years old. Both girls had on their team hats. At one point, the friend spent about 15 minutes fixing her hair, fixing her hat, and taking photos of her self until she got one she liked. She then posted it to Facebook with "I'm at the hockey game!"

Indeed, she was physically at the hockey game. But was she really at the hockey game? She didn't see those 15 minutes of play. She wasn't enjoying being at the game, or even with her friend and her friend's family. I'd venture to guess she didn't even enjoy her personal photo shoot but rather it seemed time that was simply gone. She was creating her highlight reel for others, but there's no value in that.

Your highlight reel is what it is. If professional athletes were playing for their highlight reels, their attention would never be on the game, but on how they look to the cameras. That would make for bad sports. Living for your highlight reel makes for bad life.

Be. Be where you are. Do what you do. Enjoy this moment; the next is not promised.

Autumn Hahn is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist practicing at Clear Mind Group in Weston, Florida. Call 954-612-9553 for a consultation. Follow Autumn on Twitter and Facebook. Subscribe on the right under Follow by Email for the weekly blog delivered directly to you.

Forgive is Not Forget

 

Who do you need to forgive? A parent, a friend, a relative, yourself? Remember that forgiveness has nothing to do with approving an action. If someone wronged you, harmed you, or blocked you from greatness at a given point in time, you can forgive the action without condoning it. 

We each are doing the best we can with where we are in life at this moment. If you think of people in that way, as doing the best on their limited resources in that moment, in every moment, you can begin to see where forgiveness can take place. You can see that moment with clear intentions and that those actions, though harmful in the end, were an act of compassion or caring or maybe even negligence, but not malice. And unless someone acts maliciously, we can forgive them. We can see people as misguided and wrong, even, without acting with intent to harm. And that's something we can forgive. 

We don't want to forget. We want to move forward with clear hearts and clear minds so we can see people as they are and live each full new experience being fully present. But those feelings of resentment, of anger, of hurt, of turmoil, those can be released, freeing up the energy it took to store them and utilizing it for healing, dreaming, thinking, learning, and loving. 

"Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself," said Suzanne Somers, and it's true. That energy you use holding onto negativity hurts only you. The other person may not even know you feel that way anymore. Are you ready to explore forgiveness?

Autumn Hahn, LMHC, CHt holds sessions in Weston, Florida and can clear trauma and resentment in 2-6 sessions. Call 954-612-9553 for an appointment and to discuss your specific treatment needs.