Peace at Sunset in Tuscany, Italy

Just walk slowly in the time after the sun sets and before night descends. Feel the breeze, smell the flowers, hear the trees’ leaves rustle and the birds sing. Watch the stars begin to emerge. ~ Dan Rather, journalist

Journalist Dan Rather knows a thing or two about finding peace in the present moment, despite a long career spent in anything but peaceful circumstances. Listen to what he says here:

One of my favorite things long has been taking a leisurely stroll with wife Jean at twilight time. My steps are getting slower and, increasingly, I have another journey on my mind—the one into eternity. …the joy—the sheer unadulterated joy—of a hand-in-hand, slow walk as evening shadows fall never ceases. The contrast with the ever-present fast pace and screaming headlines of modern life is stark.

The legendary 86-year-old journalist is, as he said, coming to the transition we all face. But he’s obviously found much peace and tranquility—and, equally important, deep gratitude for the gift of life.

His simple, yet profound, advice is “Take in the moment. Live in the now.”

So what does all that have to do with anxiety and depression?

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), nearly 40 million adults in the United States, suffer from anxiety and depression. The problem is compounded because folks suffering from one often suffer from the other also.

The worldwide numbers are even starker. According to the World Health Organization (WHO),  about 8 percent of the world population suffer from anxiety and depression. That’s a staggering number—over 600 million people.

I know this old world of ours has lots of problems, but the epidemic of anxiety and depression is surely one of the biggest.

Spirit

How many times have you caught yourself living in the past or the future? Whenever you feel guilty or depressed, you’re living in the past. Whenever you feel worried or anxious, you are living in the future.

But when you’re feeling loving, wise, peaceful, and joyful, you are living in the present, in the now. In reality, now is all you have.

Even when you focus on past or future,  you are doing it now. Whatever you’re doing, thinking, or being, you’re doing it now. Now is all you have. Now is all that’s real. All else is illusion.

You waste your present moments by pretending you can return to the past or live in the future. How do you know when you’re doing that? By the depression or anxiety you feel.

If you can be fully present in the moment with love for all that is (including yourself), you will know the peace that passes all understanding. You will know that old familiar feeling of coming Home.

You may still wander into illusion now and then. But you cannot get lost. You will always be able to return Home again—to the  home you, in truth, never really left.

Adapted from John Cali and Spirit Special Reports

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One of my favorite spiritual teachers is Mooji. In this short video, he discusses depression— what it is and what it is not. Note his emphasis on the words “I am.” As many of you probably know, those 2 words carry great power, and represent our connection to the Divine.

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