CONTINUUM

Today, we are either tethered towards the past in the guise of “healing” or racing towards the future with the placard of “vision”. There’s constant activity in the wheel of time as we time-travel through these points in that wheel —Past & Future.

The structure of life necessitates the periodic recollection and projection of the contents of the past and future to guide decisions in the now. However, without the brilliance of engagement you can stay locked in the wheel of time. That is, trapping yourself in positions where the energy generated prevents you from maximizing the never-ending now.

The fabric of the genius mind exists in the continuum. Not in the idea of pursuing a vision or to the stretch of going into the past. The genius mind exists in the flow of that time. She is a master of the intelligence of the now that creates the past (former now) and curates the future (coming now). This intelligence is what guides her to truly heal and indeed be a person of vision.

The key to living an extraordinary life —which happens to be one of meaning, purpose, power, authenticity & mega-results is in operating in this continuum. It puts you in a position of power and allows you operate from a state of being. A level of permanence that is consciousness. The ability to create in the now and function as though the only time that exists for you is the present.

The Past is a now that has happened while the Future is a now that is yet to happen. Neither exists in reality however, your conscious or unconscious choice can cause them to affect the reality of “now”. If this is positive, your mind is sharpened and you operate like a genius indeed. If it is negative, you are pulled back and stuck in between regret and anxiety, stagnation and fear, and, resentment and worry.

This would explain why when you choose to embark on a journey of healing, you may stick your nose in the messes of your past and fail to wipe yourself. You stay fixated and drowned in the guilt that the rivers of the past brings as you journey. Or, you do something a little different - you decide to not acknowledge this messes and instead take the path of avoidance; creating a new monster and mess in the process.

It also interprets why when you stick to the pursuit of a vision rather than a projection then embodiment, you are overwhelmed by your incompetence in the moment and the lack of congruence between where your focus is and where you are now. You choose to be stubborn after various motivations and pep talks on pursuing a vision, creating a rather inflamed desire for the picture you see to be materialized immediately.

Where, you do everything to make the vision a reality but not from a place of being; Where the texture of the vision is embraced, touched and felt with your soul. You go through it and grow through it. Just like the artist relationship with his art formed from the love relationship that started in his mind to his canvas and then to the product.

The Now is a continuum. It’s never-ending, only changing forms to hold the blueprint to navigate the current version of itself. The Past is never forgotten and the Future is never left alone.

The wisdom lies in your ability to recollect the contents of the past not as a judge or critic but as an individual —paying attention to the detail it presents, examining closely and identifying arenas where those detail affects the curriculum of the present.

Also, to project into the future, to chart a course and to define a north-star that would serve as the image of your engagement in the now. This would become the stone for crafting the monuments of the moments.

Let’s delve deep.

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow’s promise is fleeting. That which is a reality is —NOW; this present moment. Hence, it is the arrogant mind that procrastinates suggesting the assurance of a tomorrow that needs today to create itself.

The NOW that has happened (PAST)

The content of your past is predicated upon the actions and actors in your present. What you consistently allow operate within your field of engagement in the now culminates into the pain or progress of the past.

Traumas do not happen in the past. They are negative paintings on your minds canvas that produces trauma across diverse occurring “nows”. Hence, why we have trauma responses - a reminder in the now of an occurrence in a now similar to the present.

The thing with the pain of the past is the desire to hold on in a bid to let go or avoid as a cure for healing. Neither does what is intended rather, it can create repeated expressions of past pain in the moment.

What you do not learn correctly when you look backward becomes a stumbling block to help you move forward and engage the never-ending now.

The wisdom is in discerning the context of time and seek redress from the contents of your past by choosing your actions and the actors now, from a superior place of being —consciousness. Where, you can choose your responses not based on avoidance or pain but awareness and strength.

What has happened, has happened but would keep happening if you do not withdraw its control over the singular most critical moment. The present is what exists. It is the present that lives not the past, not the future. It is the life in the present you use to power the past and the future. Powering the past is important but only to the end that it aids recollection for personal mastery.

The goal of healing is to be in control of the now by paying attention to the actors in your mind formed from the past without indulging it. To listen deeply, to investigate and to decide in the moment your response based on your interaction as the captain in this wheel. Not your thoughts, not your biases, not your emotions, not your opinions, not your idea of truth or what is right. But, YOU as the observer. Taking notes, learning your various departments quite intently choosing to see from your state of being.

I continually use “state of being” because it refers to a point of consciousness that transcends the echoes of your past and the whispers of your future. It’s a state where you operate with profound awareness and inner clarity. It is observing from a vantage point, the play of your thoughts and emotions without being ensnared by them. It is that space that offers you transcendence.

Every content of the past is a now that has happened; Success, failure, regret or satisfaction. Your responsibility is to reverse-engineer the wisdom in that now to engage in the present.

Remember, the present is what you have. It’s a never-ending now.

The NOW that is yet to happen (FUTURE)

There’s no future, only today. It is today that creates tomorrow and tomorrow is simply an idea dependent on the ideals of today.

Ever caught yourself or anyone speak of what they want to do without ever doing it? It’s a programming of the foolish. So high on his own supply yet so foolish to reckon the irrelevance of anything to be done in the future when the only time that exists is now.

It’s a conversation of low-thinking to suggest there is a tomorrow afterall whereas tomorrow is only formed by the bricks of the present. It is the artist present effort that guarantees him an art not his excessive admiration of the art he is hoping to paint.

The narrative of tomorrow is authored by the choices and engagement of today, and to break free from the cycle of unexpressed genius, unfulfilled dreams, anxiety, overwhelm and confusion, you must mold the future with the clay of the present.

You must consciously choose to be genius, today.

Here’s the reality —You will eventually get to where you are going. Conscious or not.

You have the power in the present to choose consciously where that destination would be.

Fixating on a vision that is yet to come and seeking to prepare for whatever future you see in your mind without accounting for its operation today is an expensive joke.

Hence, the idea to wait till it is perfect is a joke. Perfection doesn’t happen in the future. It’s an impossible reality because in this continuum, the goalpost keeps changing. What you’d view as perfection today would become degrading in a now of the future.

The now is the future. Our operation is within that continuum —the now-future, the never-ending-now.

Until you truly understand this, much of your goal setting and vision boarding is just a comedy show.

Goals & vision boards are for direction and perspective. To serve as a compass. And, to give order to the present. Hence, why you need a vision. Not first for actualization but for perspective.

When you become so encumbered with the details of the future, you must call yourself back to the now. The image of the future is to guide your path in the now not to pull you into it.

The future is yet to happen. When it does happen, it’s really just another now. What are you doing right now?

If all of your goal setting is excitement without swift movement in the now, you’ve got it all wrong. This is why resolutions fail. They do not actualize themselves rather, they are to serve as a compass to formulate the behaviors, actions & actors of today.

The NOW that is here (PRESENT)

This is what you have, right now.

Not tomorrow.

Not yesterday.

How are you engaging it?

To what degree have you allowed the goals you set influence your actions right now?

Listen, success isn’t a future idea. Success is in the present. The choices you make and the actions you take.

Neither failure nor success happens in the future. It happens NOW. The canvas you paint today delivers the whole picture to you eventually.

The way to take charge of the now is to, capture the future not to attach but to gain perspective. That becomes your Northstar.

Be aware of the past, do not attach - that helps you form a blueprint.

Go hard on the now. Identify the wisdom to engage today that would culminate in the future you envisioned.

And, if you want an easy way to capture that future. Then, simply identify what you do not want to see in the different areas of your life at a certain time and reverse-engineer that. Iterate as you go on.

But remember, always from a state of being.

Similarly, in the never-ending-now is the hamster wheel of distractions guised as news and the consumption of content, whether good or bad.

Good, because, knowledge acquisition can become more of a distraction that creates a pit of weary and turmoil than a path to progress. The acquisition of knowledge in the now should not be an excuse for execution.

The idea of wanting to know more, if not, borne out of true curiosity could be a crippling sense of worth where you erroneously think that the more you know, the better you’d feel about yourself. That’s a sinking sand.

Bad, because, the world is out to get you. Doomscrolling on social media while pushing forward an action to be taken to the future is a hazard to mitigate.

In the never-ending-now, your independence of thought and consciousness of choice is your key to control, peace and progress.

What would you do today?

Take charge of your life.

Let the moments be movements that engineers your best work

…in a world where you can be anything, be GENIUS.

– Faith Afengbai-Ohio

Writer | Speaker | Thinker