The path to true peace and loving in any moment is to not only live in just that moment, but also practice complete acceptance of everything just as it is.  To live in, and completely, totally, without judgment- embrace the present.

In the past, I always associated judgment with someone or something physical, or a specific event.  I could consciously sense my judgment of someone (even myself) or something else, and, I learned to recognize and release those judgments as a path to greater acceptance, peace, and loving.  And I’m still practicing that every day.

Lately, though, I have noticed a much more subtle form of judgment creeping into my life.  Or perhaps I am simply becoming more aware of it.   It’s not a judgment about someone or something specifically, but it is an underlying, nonspecific judgment- of the present moment.  Basically, I find myself finding something “wrong” with the now, a resistance to the present moment, just as it is presenting itself.

While I have come to understand that it is only by truly living in the present moment that I may experience the bliss and peace available to us, I’m also learning (or remembering) that this alone is not enough.  We must not only be present, but we need to accept the present moment just as it is.  Radical acceptance of everything, and a total surrender to the richness, beauty, and  incredible texture of life which is now.  A full body embrace of the moment.

Any time we are in judgment of, or resistant to ANY thing, we are separated from our loving, from peace, from our truest nature.  Creating separateness- in any form- will never lead to the peace and loving we all, in our hearts, seek.

Part of us likes to make something wrong with others, with situations, or with our life.  Perhaps it feeds our ego, perhaps we have been carrying a story with us- that we are a victim, or that life is supposed to be “fair”…. it doesn’t really matter.  Making something wrong with the present moment is a direct path to suffering.

Now there is nothing wrong with wanting to improve one’s circumstances.  The distinction is where the energy comes from to create the movement to something else.  When our lives are “bad” (a judgment), the energy comes from fear, lack, and sometimes anger, and the results often reflect that- just look around at what people are doing in the name of “improving their circumstances”.  When we accept our lives just as they are, and find gratitude and grace in the moment, the forward energy comes from a very different place- where creativity, compassion, love, and inspiration really reside.

So the next time you are feeling that general feeling of angst, dissatisfaction and can’t quite find the peace within yourself- ask yourself:

Am I present just in this moment?

Am I in total acceptance of this moment- just as it is- and can I find it within my Self to embrace the incredible beauty, depth, richness and texture of all that I experience in this moment?

Then simply allow yourself to experience the bliss of this incredible privilege we call life- which only, ever, happens right now.