Breast Cancer and Living in the Moment

During my journey through my breast cancer, enlightenment and spiritual growth, I noticed that most of the time when I was stressed out, worried, or unhappy, I was in the past or the future, which means "not in the moment". I also noticed that if I brought my attention back to the present, the pain of having breast cancer, the stress, the worry, and the unhappiness disappeared almost immediately.

My breast cancer taught me how to live in the moment.

This "living in the moment" idea may not be new to you since it has been talked about in the "spiritual" literature for many years. What I am suggesting, however, is different from most literature in one very important way. Instead of the "idea" of living in the moment, I started "act on" living in the moment! That what's so exciting about it!

Every time I had my attention on my breast cancer, I simply moved my attention from the past to an environment where I passionately lived in the present without an attachment to specific results. I decided to live this way because I wanted to, not because I was afraid the past will repeat itself. Every moment I live is a "new unit of time." As soon as I understood the concept "new unit of time," I always remembered to live in the moment.

"He that never changes his opinions, never corrects his mistakes, will never be wiser on the tomorrow than he is today."
--Tryon Edwards

The transition process may be tough at the beginning, but you are tougher! With practice and belief in your self, it will become second nature.

Some years ago, I lived in Montecito, California at my spiritual Masters' home for 6 months. She had a dog-named Sugar. Sugar was very friendly and playful. She would come to my car to greet me when I came home. In the mornings, I would find her stretched out right next to my bed. Basically, we had a great relationship. Sugar was a member of the family. We even threw a birthday party for her with cake and birthday hats!

But, circumstances brought me back to LA. I did not get the chance to visit Sugar for a while. A couple of months passed by, before I got the chance to drive up to Montecito again.

I was extremely disappointed when Sugar didn't great me when I arrived. She didn't show any signs of recognition. She totally ignored me like I did not exist in her world. Sugar's behavior did not make sense to me.

All kind of thoughts were going through my head.

* Is it possible that she totally forgot me?
* Is she suffering from Alzheimer's disease?
* Are dog's susceptible to Alzheimer's disease like human beings?

I was crushed. My feelings were hurt.

Then, all of a sudden, a light bulb went through my head. I looked at her and realized that she was "living in the moment." The past did not exist for her!

Wow! What a revelation! Sugar was living in the moment! What a wonderful way to live! Living in the moment is the ultimate way to live.

I felt this twinge in my heart. I actually felt jealous of her capability to be able to live in the moment, and for just a little while, I actually wanted to be a dog in order to have that capability!

I was in the state of "Ah ha!!" with this realization. My mind was running a thousand miles a second. I was thinking to myself that if Sugar could live in the moment, why couldn't I live the same way?

There was this serious dialog going in my head between my conscious mind and my subconscious mind.

And then, this brilliant idea crossed my mind. "Wait a second; wait a second," I told myself. "If a dog can live in the moment, why can't I live in the moment as a human being?"

It was at that moment that I changed my state of mind and adapted the notion of "living in the moment."

I love living in the moment! It does not mean that the past does not exist. The past does exist, but I don't let it to control my life in the NOW.

To paraphrase Eckhart Tolle who said "Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have".

With much Love, Laughter and Living in the Moment,

Lea Yekutiel