The Secret of Health

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly. 

                                                                            – The Buddha

Here is a wise and familiar tenet of life. Throughout my forty-odd years of practicing Yoga this returns again and again to remind me the present moment is all that is real.

Yesterday I discovered the freezer door had not securely closed the night before and food was thawing. My mind immediately began to ruminate about the cost of a new refrigerator, the time it would take to empty and clean the freezer, the waste of thawed food, the frustration of contacting someone to fix it, on and on.

But wait, maybe the door just wasn't completely closed. Perhaps simply securely closing it and waiting a few hours would reveal a different scenario. The bananas kept on the top shelf would need to be discarded, but the rest might yet be saved. Actually, I used the half-thawed bananas, along with strawberries, blueberries and mango to make a fantastic smoothie. But that's anothter story.

Sure enough, the refrigerator did not turn into a huge hassle. By evening the motor was purring softly and everything was frozen as it should be. Ice was popping from the ice maker. We smiled at our foolishness.

The point here is the mind could have taken me on quite an unpleasant ride, spending hours worrying about things not yet happening. This worry does effect health and well being, not to mention overriding the ability to simply be in the present moment.

Of course, this is a mundane example, but it illustrates the point. The amazing ability of the mind to create our reality is indeed a wonder. What an enormous responsibilty it is to stay awake and aware in order to command this powerful instrument to serve us rather than let it be our master.