The Power of Now

Have you ever given up because you thought you needed more time to accomplish something?

I saw first hand what it takes to move past the limits of time, when I was least expecting it more than ten years ago at a Wrestling State Championship Event where I saw hundreds of matches over a weekend.

I never met the wrestler who forever changed my concept of time, but I still remember his name.

Now in folk style wrestling, a wrestling match has three periods, each of which last two minutes.

A wrestler can win a match by pinning his opponent or by out scoring him. Points are awarded for a variety of different moves.

During the semi-finals match at the 1A/2A 140-pound weight division, we observed Drake Hovis stay ahead of his opponent until the final 15 seconds of the last period.

His opponent refused to give up and managed to reverse his position and thereby gain 3 points, making him the leader of the match with only 5 seconds remaining on the clock.

Some wrestlers, knowing how difficult it is to gain back those three points with only seconds left on the clock might give up.

After exerting every ounce of strength that they have for six minutes, they feel completely exhausted, and they fall prey to a reasonable thought that they have nothing left to give.

But Drake Hovis was no ordinary wrestler.

He didn’t think about doing something reasonable.

With only 5 seconds left on the clock, he chose to be unreasonable by re-revering the situation and gaining back those 3 points just as time ran out!

Keep in mind that "re-reversing" in wrestling is incredibly difficult to do in a minute, and most people would think impossible with only 5 seconds!

Drake Hovis didn’t pay attention to the odds or the fact that not enough time remained for him to regain control of the situation.

He demonstrated that the only time is now and so he forged ahead to do the unreasonable!

The result?

He won that match and then went on to the State final match and became that years’ State Champion with a 34 - 0 record for the entire season!

But Drake Hovis did far more than become a State Wrestling champion.

He championed the belief that it never matters how much time there is to accomplish something; it only matters how much desire you have now.

As I was thinking about this the other day, I realized that there really is no such thing as the past or the future because everything that ever takes place occurs in the now.

After all, when you think about the past, when do you think about it?

Now.

When you think about the future, when do you think about it?

Now.

In other words...

NOW is where it's at!

Have you ever let that little voice get you to regret something you did or failed to do yesterday? (Grr! I have!)

Interestingly, regretting something about yesterday gets you to regret now!

Have you ever allowed that little voice to get you worried about something that might happen in the future?

Worrying about something that might happen in the future gets you to worry now!

Ultimately, the only time there is, is now!

And because the only time we can ever truly experience is now, we might as well focus on the wonder and power of now!

The more conscious we become of this eternal now, the less conscious we become of limitations!

Indeed, limitations begin to disappear (that's what happens when we stop focusing on them) and we achieve the extraordinary, and of course we achieve it now!