All right, let's get it. Welcome back to the show. And today I wanna dive into something. Dude, it was just too good to not share by voice to not record. I wrote it. I put a, I put it in a blog. I tweeted it. And I was like, bro, I gotta record this. It's just, it's just that good. As a matter of fact, you know, I, I read Tolstoy in the morning. I read, um, Epictetus, you know, just some little different devotionals. And then normally I get into my random reading. I didn't even get to it.
Let me read to you what Tolstoy wrote. And I was like, alright, so here's what he wrote. He said, if you live your whole life into the present, you have no questions about your future before or after death. And, you know, I went on to something else and I was like, I, I can't go to anything else. I came back around to it and I read it again. If you live your whole life into the present. You will have no questions about your future before or after death.
I mean, dude, we worry about our future all the time, right? I mean, we're just so pressed and so worried. At least I am. I don't know if you are or not, but we live our whole lives just with all these questions. And he said, if you live your whole life into the present, see, this is different. He didn't say in the present, he said into the present. So I looked that up and I said, what's the difference between in and into?
See, when you live in the present, you hear the cliche be where your feet are, be in. In means it's, it's surrounded, it's encapsulated. Being into the present. That's action. That's expression, that's full engagement. It's the only way you are living. Present tense. He continues on your life. In the present is the time when God lives in you. Therefore, a minute of your time in the present is more precious than anything else.
Try with all your might not to waste time and look carefully at the manifestation of God within you. Manifestation . It means embodiment. It means God isn't just out there. God is here, but he can only be here. If you are, it can't be in the past. The future doesn't even exist yet. Tolstoy said this is one of these haymaker shots right here. Nothing goes away. Nothing was or will be for. Everything is here now in the present. See, nothing was passed.
Nothing will be future for everything is here. Now in the present, bro, just write that down. I didn't even catch that when I first read it and I started unpacking the thought and I wrote that down. I'm like, what the hell does that mean? I. There is. Everything is now nothing was, see, yesterday when I was there, yesterday was now when I get to tomorrow. It is still now. It will always be now, bro, that changes everything. We spend all of our lives nestled in two different time zones the past.
In the future. And Tolstoy says, if you wanna eliminate any questions about your future, do you have questions about your future? Of course you do. And he said, if you want to eliminate any questions in your future. Live your whole life into the present. So what are you worried about right now? Your finances, your job, your weight, your future. You know where all that worry comes from?
Stress, I. Fear, anxiety, depression, you know where those things are in the past or the future, not in the present. Think about it. Think about your finances, future or past. Damn. Think about your weight. Future or past. I don't know when I'm gonna lose weight. How'd I let myself go? Job? I get stuck in this job past. Man, that makes some more money. Future. That's it. And I guarantee you, bro, all of that, that that's why we're depressed. That's why we're fearful.
That's why we're stressed out. That's why we binge drink. That's why we eat too much. That's why we have toxic friends that just validate our mediocrity. It's bullshit. And if you begin, and dude, this is a process now. If you begin living not past, living your whole life into the present expression action. Those things are gonna start losing their grip on you. If you're anxious, you're thinking ahead. If you're depressed, you're looking back.
But when you live fully into the present, just action. Those things, those burdens, they're gonna start, they're weakened. They'll be there. There's some obstacle obstacles, I get it. But they're gonna weaken their stronghold on you and you're gonna stop asking what if? And you're gonna stop saying, I should have. These are future and past statements, and they're not productive. They just weaken you. They diminish you.
Begin living fully into the moment, bro, as I wrote about this and thought about, this is why I believe writing, writing will save your life because you get to think about these things. I think this is why kids are so happy. I do because they ain't talking about yesterday and they're not worrying about tomorrow. They're just playing it today. And I think sometimes it gets a little sobering, man, I'm 51. I begin to like appreciate I have my struggles. I, I have my days.
I'm just big lip in it, regretting, wishing. But I begin to appreciate, like, bro, I'm, if I, if I do this thing right, I'm about 40% in the tank. I got about 60% left. Let's go. But I think as you, as you begin to age, you begin to. Uh, live fully into the present. Like the, the shit you used to worry about in the past, you're like, fuck it, man. And the things you're worried about in the future, like, I'm just glad to see today.
I was talking to a guy yesterday, I was delivering a vehicle to him and, you know, we, we, we made it work and he, it was over his budget. But you know, I helped. He helped wife came in, said, let's go. And I was shaking their hands. Good customer of mine, man. Shaking their hands yesterday and they were like, marsh, fuck it. This is all we get. I get one life. My wife and I we're gonna enjoy this. This is what she wanted. I want it. Let's go. He said, we can afford it. And I get it.
He ain't worried about the past. He's not stressing about the future. He's just, he's just here. My dad, the same way, he's 84. He exercises every day, hangs out with his dog and his wife every day and loves to write and read and, and dude, the conversations I have with him, he ain't talking about the past. He ain't worrying about the future. You're just talking about what he did today. He just, he's just living it. He's 84. He's chilling and that's what's key. See Tol story.
Think about this Tol story. Didn't say live your life in the present. He said, live your whole life into the present. That means action. That means all in. No more hanging around in the past. No more agonizing over what's next, just now. I've often said, and I always say there's always next, but really there's only now. Next is the opportunity and the opportunities are gonna show when they need the show.
When they show ain't up to me, what I do to live fully into the present, that's the only thing I can control. So when opportunities come, I'm present. I can seize them, I can see 'em and seize them. Boom and roll with it. Think about how much emotional currency, how clouded you are. Cluttered, constipated with worry, fear, and regret. Can't do nothing about it, bro. It's why the Bible says, give no th no worry of tomorrow. Give no thoughts of tomorrow. Tomorrow's gonna take care of its own. Why?
Because tomorrow, when tomorrow gets here is called today. There will never be a tomorrow. There will never again be a yesterday. It's always today. Be here into live, into the present. The only questions I want you to have today. You wanna eliminate any questions about your, about the future, before and after death? Begin living fully into the present. That's the only place God can reside in your life. That is the only place he can reside in to the present.
Let's go And the only questions I want you to have, need to be questions. Of curiosity today, of creativity today, of learning, of productive confrontation. Like not assuming. I'm not gonna assume anything I'm gonna know. Let's go and whatever it is, I'm gonna be all right. You have that curiosity and that creativity and that wonder, and that awe, bro, you listen to this over and over again. You read this, it can change your day.
Today and tomorrow that will be today and five years from now will be today. Live fully into the present. That's all I want you to do. You got any questions? You got anything Loom looming around? I mean, just, I mean, and is the wrong kind of wonder like, oh man, man, what are you anxious about? What are you burdened about? What are you regretting over? It's unproductive. It's debiting your life. You want credits. You wanna live your life with no regrets at the end, don't worry.
The questions will all answer themselves. You, you don't even have to worry about it. You don't even have to answer your, you're answering the questions by living into the present and let God do his thing. All right? And I say, God, man, call it what you want. Universe, life force. I'm just saying, man, it's that. It's that power and it's that power within you, but you won't be able to ignite it unless you're fully living fully, wholly, not pieces, not fragments wholly into the present.
Alright, let's get outta here. Keep it simple. Keep it moving. Never settle. Stay tough. Peace.