The Gift of NOW

How to Embrace the Precious Present in Today’s Frenzied World

It was the 1980s, and I was at the peak of my career as a healthcare executive. My days were a blur of meetings, decisions, and deadlines. 

I prided myself on my ability to juggle it all, yet something felt hollow—a nagging emptiness that no professional success or personal achievement seemed to fill. 

One afternoon, while browsing through a bookstore in a rare moment of stillness, I stumbled across a slim, unassuming book: The Precious Present by Spencer Johnson. Little did I know that this small book would alter the course of my life.

At first glance, the book appeared deceptively simple. It told the story of a young boy who seeks the secret to happiness, believing it lies in some far-off future or hidden treasure. As he grows older, he becomes consumed by his pursuit, only to realize in his later years that the “precious present” isn’t a physical object or a future goal—it is the present moment itself. 

The story unfolded gently, yet with a depth that struck me in ways I wasn’t prepared for. The boy’s quest mirrored my own life—always striving, never arriving. I had been so caught up in the doing of life that I had forgotten how to be.

The book’s message was profound: happiness, fulfillment, and the infinite wisdom we seek are not found in the past or the future but in the now. At a time when my ego thrived on accomplishments and validation, this felt revolutionary. 

My entire life had been rooted in either replaying past successes and failures or projecting myself into a future of imagined outcomes. The Precious Present made me realize how much of life I was missing by not truly inhabiting the present.

As I absorbed the book’s wisdom, I began to see the world differently. I started small—pausing between meetings to take a few deep breaths, sipping my coffee without simultaneously scanning emails, walking through hospital corridors fully aware of the sound of my footsteps. 

The more I practiced being present, the more I understood what the book was teaching me: the infinite exists here and now. When I stayed in the present moment, I felt a connection to something vast and timeless, a stillness beyond my busy life and restless mind.

This journey reminded me of Buddhist teachings I had only casually encountered before. Buddhism speaks of the “monkey mind”—our tendency to leap from thought to thought, clinging to the past or grasping at the future. The present moment, Buddhists teach, is the gateway to enlightenment because it is the only place where life truly happens. 

Spencer Johnson’s story was a parable for this universal truth. To be fully present was to access what the Zen masters call the beginner’s mind—a state of openness and wonder unclouded by ego.

Over time, I began to see how the ego operates almost exclusively from the past. It clings to old narratives of who we are—our roles, identities, and achievements—and uses those stories to dictate how we should move forward. But living from this ego-driven place only perpetuates a cycle of dissatisfaction, because we are always looking backward to inform how we move forward. 

The present, on the other hand, invites us to a different rhythm: BE > DO > ALLOW. When I let go of striving and simply was, my actions felt more purposeful, and outcomes seemed to flow naturally.

This practice of presence has became a refuge for me during these turbulent times. While the news headlines and global crises of today’s world could easily pull me into a spiral of worry or despair, the wisdom of The Precious Present continues to ground me. 

In the now, there is no room for “what-ifs” or “should-haves.” There is only this moment, and within it, infinite peace and possibility.

More than three decades have passed since I first read that book, yet its teachings remain a constant companion. The lessons of The Precious Present remind me that life is not found in the past I can’t change or the future I can’t control. It’s in the breath I’m taking right now, the sunlight pouring through my window, the silence between my words.

To anyone who feels burdened by the weight of the world or their own ambitions, I offer this reminder: the joy and fulfillment you seek are not elsewhere. They are here, in the precious present. All you need to do is be.

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