Importance of "Now"
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Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Grayslake, IL
Posts: 732
Originally Posted by trachemys 
Hey painter. I'm gonna mess with you a little bit.
"Now" doesn't exist. I once proved this logically to a group of physicists.
If time is a line, with direction and constant movement, then "now" is a point on that line. We all know that data points have no duration, no existence other than mention. So, "now" is a nonexistent concept trying to make duration where none exists.
We exist in a flow. We decide where the flow goes. Make your flow to the light, not to the darkness.
"Now" doesn't exist. I once proved this logically to a group of physicists.
If time is a line, with direction and constant movement, then "now" is a point on that line. We all know that data points have no duration, no existence other than mention. So, "now" is a nonexistent concept trying to make duration where none exists.
We exist in a flow. We decide where the flow goes. Make your flow to the light, not to the darkness.
I think there are are too many recovering alcoholics clinging to their past. Don't compare the past to now. Compare now to now.
Bunnez
Marchia in Aeternum
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Georgia
Posts: 11,094
Originally Posted by bunnezjp
When will THEN be NOW? LOL, favorite Spaceballs Quote.
I think there are are too many recovering alcoholics clinging to their past. Don't compare the past to now. Compare now to now.
Bunnez
I think there are are too many recovering alcoholics clinging to their past. Don't compare the past to now. Compare now to now.
Bunnez
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 7,097
Thanks for your post painter. It is very timely for me and just what I needed to read. When I first got sober I read much about mindfulness and now but have let it slip a little. I'm having some troubles recently and thoughts of drinking have been prominent (2 years sober) So this was just what I needed and helped reinforce the importance of today and not worrying about what might be in the future. 
Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 5,937
Lately "now" has been tricky for me to maintain, too. I guess it's all the "boundary events" in life. The semester has just ended, which is good but a natural point upon which to reflect. Xmas is almost here again and of course the year is nearly over. Once the new year starts it won't be an awful long time til my birthday (a boundary event that's hard to ignore).
We can't ignore the future, that's true. But we also can't hold it back. We must prepare for it- it would be unwise not too- but we also can't obsess over it. Lately I have been projecting my fears into that unknown future, hard not to. Was I a fool to go back to school at my age? Have I missed out on too many prime years of earning while I've been working on my program? Was it a mistake not to marry again? Will I be miserable if I stay in the same career field? Will I be miserable if I don't?
Trying really hard to focus on the now. And trying to remember it will always be now.
We can't ignore the future, that's true. But we also can't hold it back. We must prepare for it- it would be unwise not too- but we also can't obsess over it. Lately I have been projecting my fears into that unknown future, hard not to. Was I a fool to go back to school at my age? Have I missed out on too many prime years of earning while I've been working on my program? Was it a mistake not to marry again? Will I be miserable if I stay in the same career field? Will I be miserable if I don't?
Trying really hard to focus on the now. And trying to remember it will always be now.
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3,550
Hi Myth of Sisyphus: I agree that one should not ignore the future, like the stoners in the 60's used to sing, "Don't worry! Be happy!" or Vivian Leigh in "Gone With the Wind" would say, "I'll think about that tomorrow", But, as you wisely say, one should not obsess about the future. Like reciting all the "what if's" or as a philosopher said, "the parade of the horribles". Much of the future is out of a single individual's control. Thus, even for the most extreme pessimist, the future may turn out sunny, or dark for the most naive optimist. You can plan for the future in a cautious way but then watch your back, because, as that philosopher, Satchel Page, said, "Something may be gaining on you!"
W.
W.
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Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 8,637
Originally Posted by trachemys
Hey painter. I'm gonna mess with you a little bit.
"Now" doesn't exist. I once proved this logically to a group of physicists.
If time is a line, with direction and constant movement, then "now" is a point on that line. We all know that data points have no duration, no existence other than mention. So, "now" is a nonexistent concept trying to make duration where none exists.
We exist in a flow. We decide where the flow goes. Make your flow to the light, not to the darkness.
"Now" doesn't exist. I once proved this logically to a group of physicists.
If time is a line, with direction and constant movement, then "now" is a point on that line. We all know that data points have no duration, no existence other than mention. So, "now" is a nonexistent concept trying to make duration where none exists.
We exist in a flow. We decide where the flow goes. Make your flow to the light, not to the darkness.
You'll never 'prove' it to me - because I have experience, and I know from that experience that NOW is all that there really is.
I do, however, agree with you about the flow part.
NOW is what is flowing....
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Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3,550
P.S. I see in today's N.Y.Times a review of a recent book entitled "Reviewing Positive Thinking". This suggests that patients engaging in Cognitive Therapy do better if, instead of merely fantasizing about the future [like "Annie" singing "Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya' Tomorrow!] , think positively but remain aware of the possibility of not completely achieving what they hope for or even experiencing failure. It seems to be good advice. Like I learn from the mob movies that "if ya' can't get any results [Imagination seems counterproductive in this context- e.g. if baseball bats on the knees or even cement overshoes don't get their attention?] then whydoncha just gawananfuggedaboudid!" (i.e. "Turn it over!}. I've always been a Marlin Brando admirer!
W.
W.
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Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: East Coast U.S.
Posts: 153
Originally Posted by McTim
Fear of the future... Boy do I know this one. I am convinced I am going to drink again. Thus, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I understand "living in the moment" I just don't know how to do it.
I understand "living in the moment" I just don't know how to do it.
I also live with Grave Fear of what you said. I am in early sobriety but am afraid I might drink again. I am just trying to live simple and living on one day at a time approach.
God Bless.
Magsie
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: UK
Posts: 26,644
Then and Now
“When I was a child,
I talked like a child,
I thought like a child,
I reasoned like a child.
“When I became a man,
I put childish ways behind me.”
Except for cartoons, soap bubbles,
Rain puddles, pizza for breakfast,
Animal-shaped balloons,
Circus clowns, carnival rides,
Fun houses, puppy kisses,
Catching fireflies, leaf piles,
Hot chocolate after a snowball fight,
And warm hugs when tucked in at night.
Growing older may be inevitable,
But growing up is optional.
“When I was a child,
I talked like a child,
I thought like a child,
I reasoned like a child.
“When I became a man,
I put childish ways behind me.”
Except for cartoons, soap bubbles,
Rain puddles, pizza for breakfast,
Animal-shaped balloons,
Circus clowns, carnival rides,
Fun houses, puppy kisses,
Catching fireflies, leaf piles,
Hot chocolate after a snowball fight,
And warm hugs when tucked in at night.
Growing older may be inevitable,
But growing up is optional.
Self recovered Self discovered
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Toronto Canada
Posts: 5,148
Originally Posted by awuh1
trachemys, time does not have constant movement. Einstein showed us that time is relative to the speed of the observer. As an observer speeds up, time slows down. It slows down until the speed of light is reached (the cosmic speed limit). At the speed of light, time stops, at which point the time-is-a-line analogy breaks down.
These relativistic things are real - time is also affected by gravity, and that is why GPS time sources on satellites need compensation to agree with references on the surface of the earth. Special relativity and Lorentz transformations explain the relative velocity temporal changes, and general relativity explains the effect that gravity has on time measurement.
While 'now' has a time duration that is infinitesimally small, we may still experience it on a continuous basis. I do that all the time.
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Thread Starter
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Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3,550
Honeatly, when I started this thread I never imagined that it would become involved with Einstein's theory of relativity. Why don't we discuss Kant who believed that it is logically (i.e. theoretically) impossible to determine the nature of what is "real" since by definition we must do that by apperception and that means that what we perceive is a product of our own perception, not necessarily a result of what is out "there", the so called ding an such
W
W
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3,550
P.S. The proper spelling of Kant's unknowable "reality" is "ding an sich". But it escapes me what all this has to do with sobriety. Cosmology and German metaphysics may have driven many of the "volk" to drink. Those Munich "biergartens"! Ach du lieber...!
Also the first word of my previous post should read "Honestly".
W.
Also the first word of my previous post should read "Honestly".
W.
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 4,580
A timely post for me today "w". I have always had a really hard time letting go of "the past"..especially in relationships. I have hung on to some (mostly in my head) with a death grip. I have a hard time opening new emotional doors....doors in the now.
I just kind of realized that. Thank you.
I just kind of realized that. Thank you.
Sober Alcoholic
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,539
Here is a nice (short) video regarding the motion of "now" by Eckhart Tolle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx8WSXQjcPk People might also enjoy and greatly benefit from his book The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment.
I know it's a bit off topic (as is the other physics on this thread), but this video ties relativity, Kant's idea of noumenon (the thing in itself) and 'what-exactly-is-now' together. A bit long, but well worth a look for anyone interested. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d4ugppcRUE
I know it's a bit off topic (as is the other physics on this thread), but this video ties relativity, Kant's idea of noumenon (the thing in itself) and 'what-exactly-is-now' together. A bit long, but well worth a look for anyone interested. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d4ugppcRUE
Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: FLAAADAH
Posts: 793
I need my space...and I need time...to find it!
All I know is...this. When I'am drinking and drunk on my A**...time slows down to a crawl (pun intended). When I'am sober...time to me, passes at ..."Warp" speed.
Thats all i know about the theroy of relativity...and the Time/Space continueum.
Duh (damn...to me 45 mins to type this) Dave
P.S. Wait a minute. It's only been 5 mins. See what i mean ???
Thats all i know about the theroy of relativity...and the Time/Space continueum.
Duh (damn...to me 45 mins to type this) Dave
P.S. Wait a minute. It's only been 5 mins. See what i mean ???
Self recovered Self discovered
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Toronto Canada
Posts: 5,148
Tolle is highly recommended. I enjoyed both The Power of Now and The New Earth, and they were very useful to me in understanding this sober way of life. If you enjoyed awuh1's link to Mr. Tolle, here is another one about meditation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foU1qgOdtwg
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