MysteryShrink in the Now
Psychology and psychologists have ideas to share, some are even effective. Still our profession falls way short on aiding the journey to ‘living in the now.’
Psychologists listen, diagnose, and attempt to improve the skills of others. But diagnoses, techniques, and schools of thought do not address the essential dilemma. How does a person live fully in the present? How does a person let go of worrying about the past and obsessively planning or fearing the future.
When someone close to us is diagnosed with a terrible disease, we have a moment of clarity perhaps. Or we think we do. The truth is—we all have the same amount of time on this earth. Your friend with the terrible disease only has today, only has Now. The rest of us are in the same boat. We only have Now. 
This is not to advocate a burst of hedonism eating everything in sight, drinking into oblivion or quitting a job or school—because the future doesn’t matter. While this sort of reasoning is often used by persons claiming addiction is the best way of life.
Living in the now is bigger than addictions. Addictions end up making the now unpleasant. Watch out dualistic thinking here, too. Relishing a glass of fine wine or a delicious steak is different than using an activity to reduce anxiety to the point that the activity becomes self-destructive—which obliterates the now experience.
Okay, here are the ‘plant’ words my tech guy says must be mentioned on every post: STRESS. MARRIAGE. MARRIAGE COUNSELING. THERAPY. ONLINE THERAPY. PSYCHOTHERAPY . . . BOWEN THEORY . . . DEPRESSION . . . RELATIONSHIP IMPROVEMENT.
The now is best experienced when you are healthy and engaged in positive relationships. The rest doesn’t matter as much as you think it does. My favorite addiction has been work. I believed my work was too important to ever be so lazy as to enjoy the now. Think of these sharks as Now stealers. Worries, fears, the works. 
Well, that sort of insane thinking has been kicked off of my cloud. MysteryShrink—pay it forward—is part of the change. I write MysteryShrink because the Now when adding a post is quite lovely. The response tells me other people are having some good Now moments. So it’s a win-win for living in the Now.
How’s it going? Now? And Now? And Now?
