Never is as Now

          As I sit and wonder how to explain to someone the importance of ‘now’, I find myself recalling a hilarious experience from the time when I was about fifteen years old.

          It was a sunny Saturday. The previous night, that was Friday, we had been talking of the three places we were visiting on Saturday. The first among these was a religious function at some acquaintance’s place. It was in early morning – around 5 or 6 – and we knew it would be nice being there. The second was the parent-teacher meeting at my sister and my school, which would be till sometime before the noon. Thirdly, we four were planning to visit a relative we had not seen from long.

          Next day – that is, on the sunny Saturday – we woke up soon enough, in time to be able to easily reach the religious function. But … at the end point, plans changed. God knows from where the impression came to our minds that if we went to attend this function, we might get late for the meeting at school. So we cancelled the plan.

          Some hours passed. Having tended to some chores, we were about to get ready for the school. Seconds before pulling out our dresses from the wardrobe, someone of us said, ‘It will take a lot of time at school. If we get late returning home, we’ll not be able to pay a visit to that uncle.’ ‘Yes,’ agreed some other of us. ‘Anyway, we have not missed any meeting at school so far. If we miss this one, there’ll be no harm.’

          With popular consent, we called off this second plan too. And started making preparations to go to that long-ago-seen uncle’s house. Around the noon, we phoned him, telling him that we were paying a surprise visit to him, and asking if he was at home. You must have guessed what he answered.

          He said that day, he was out with his family on a trip, and so going to their home would be just to see a locked door.

          And this way, the third plan ended up being cancelled too.

          A smile still conquers my face as I recall this experience vividly.

          We often keep cancelling one thing for the other, other for another and at the end, are able to do either little or nothing. We cancel going to some place because we have an assignment to do, and postpone doing the assignment because we think we are hungry and need lunch early, and in no time, everything is messed up. We spend a lot of time delaying what is to be done now, and waiting for what is to be done after some time. In short, we look forward to the future at the expense of the present.

          The only thing that is needed to avoid falling into this trap is initiative. Tell yourself to just sit down and begin that work you are required to do and do it for only some time. Once a gullible you gets into the flow, the work will itself find a way of getting completed. There is never going to be a moment which will be the like of now.