75tabloids in the grocery store checkout line. We smile at
them even before reading that aliens are living in the
White House. We need to take that same attitude to-
ward what passes as “serious” media.
Once you’ve gotten good at factoring out the nega-
tive aspects of the media today, take it a step further:
Make your own news. Be your own breaking story. Don’t
look to the media to tell you what’s happening in your
life.Be what’s happening.
35. Open your present
Practice being awake in the present moment. Make
the most of your awareness of this hour. Don’t live in
the past (unless you want guilt) or worry about the fu-
ture (unless you want fear), but stay focused on today
(in case you want happiness).
“Until you can put your attention where you want
it,” said Emmet Fox, “you have not become master of
yourself. You will never be happy until you can deter-
mine what you are going to think about for the next
hour.”
There is a time for dreaming, planning, and creative
goal setting. But once you are complete with that, learn
to live in the here and now. See your whole life as being
contained in this very hour. Let the microcosm become
the macrocosm. Live the words of the poet William Blake
and his description of enlightenment:
“To see a world in a grain of sand
and heaven in a wild flower
hold infinity in the palm of your hand
and eternity in an hour.”
Sir Walter Scott said he would trade whole years
filled with mindless conformity for “one hour of life
Open your present