We all have things that make us anxious.
Think about some things that cause you anxiety or stress. Now ask yourself, “How many of them have to do with worrying about events that happened in the past?”
It doesn’t matter how recently in the past the event took place. It could have been five years ago, five days ago, five minutes ago, or five seconds ago.
Now, how many of them have to do with anxiety over an event that may or may not happen in the future? Some events that cause you stress might have been both about the past and the future, because you may be disappointed or angry about something that happened in the past, and you may be concerned that it will also happen again in the future.
Do any of your worries have to do with anything that is occurring right now, at this very moment? Note that some things may have their root causes in the past, but you may be worried or anxious about them in the present. In such a case, the event that led to your present anxiety is still in the past. It’s your choice in the present moment whether or not to pay attention to the memory of that event.
Think about the things that cause you stress in your day-to-day life. As you do, ponder the fact that unless someone invents a time machine, you cannot go back and change anything in the past the past. The past no longer exists except in your memory. Since the only place the past exists is in your memory, you are in control of it. You can choose which memories to pay attention to, and which memories to ignore.
Likewise, the future does not exist except as an extrapolation of the mind. Trying to anticipate what may or may not happen in the future is just a mental exercise, and nothing based in reality. You might think that some things are likely to happen, and some things are less likely to happen, but unless you have a crystal ball or a time machine, the only way to know for sure what will happen in the future is to wait and see.
The key point to remember here is that feelings are not facts. Moods are not facts. Thoughts are not facts. Moods, thoughts and feelings are just processes of the mind. If you are stressed or depressed over past or future events, you have the choice over which feelings and moods to pay attention to, and which thoughts and feelings to let go of.
A benefit of Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy is that when we leave Doing Mode and enter Being Mode, we stop worrying about the past or stressing over the future, if only for a moment.
Note that this doesn’t mean that leaving Doing Mode and entering Being Mode makes bad moods go away. It just means that by entering Being Mode, we allow ourselves the choice of not giving energy to those negative moods.
By living in the moment we create some space between our True Selves and our thoughts, moods and feelings. This space allows us some breathing room. It also allows us to come to know that we are not our moods. We are not our feelings. We get to choose who and what we are.
This all happens by living in the moment.