寧靜的心跡(105) 當下的新鮮感

我們都喜歡計劃未來，不過大多時候，事情都會偏離計畫。看起來，生活上的計畫必不可少，但看深一層，很多計畫不過是我們的習慣，不是出於真正的需要。還有不少計畫只是我們控制欲或成見的體現，而不是出於理智的方案。

我們也喜歡跟隨感覺，但僅僅憑感覺來安排自己的生活，而不經過深思熟慮，會錯過很多可能性，並忽視產生感覺的根本原因。這種慣性的決策模式無法產生真正的計畫，而會導致我們草率地對待人生中的大事。

對於學習、工作、婚姻或退休等人生大事，我們都需要細緻地規劃。而一般生活事務的安排，只要把健康放在第一位，我們就可以讓生活多一些彈性，不用太費心去計劃。

如果我們減少計劃，當下就會出現更多新鮮的東西，生活也會有更多驚喜。如果每一刻僅以意識去行事，那麼每一個行動都會在自己的掌控中，因此我們也會活得更輕鬆。若把所有事情都納入計劃，那麼未來就變得僵化。那些計畫好的事情已經在頭腦中反覆想像無數次，到我們真正經歷的時候，就失去了新鮮感。

放下對明天的掌控欲，不拘泥於計畫，今天反而會過得更舒適，因為我們擺脫了對明天的擔憂。計劃明天，始終是在質疑自己的應變能力，反映我們的自信心不足夠。而這種質疑就是一種擔憂。

機械式地按計畫生活，我們會對生活感到厭倦。如果生活只意味著重複與熟悉，那麼我們所有計畫都將會失敗，一切期望都會因為缺乏新鮮感而變成失望。

未知的情況會帶來恐懼，因為我們不知道自己能否應付得來。新事物也會令人緊張，但面對新鮮事物才能充份展現我們的活力。生活的新鮮感，源自我們每一刻的自由意識。全然投入在此時此地而不等待未來，我們就能從生活的細微之處，體會到新鮮感的存在。

生命就是一個動態的過程，像潺潺的流水，從溪澗流到江河，最後匯入大海。生活在真正的自由之中，我們的意識就能融入整個自然，不再是一個孤立的生命。而這種融入的感覺，是新鮮感最大的來源。

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The path to Tranquility (105) The freshness of the present moment

We all enjoy planning for the future, but most of the time, things deviate from plans. It seems that planning is essential in life, but at a deeper level, many plans are merely our habits and not born out of real necessity. There are also many plans that are just a manifestation of our desire to control or prejudice, rather than rational solutions.

We also like to follow our feelings, but arranging our future based solely on feelings without thoughtful consideration can cause us to miss many possibilities and neglect the underlying causes of our emotions. This habitual decision-making pattern fails to generate genuine plans and can lead us to treat the significant events of life sloppily.

For major life events such as study, work, marriage or retirement, we all need to plan detailed. As for the arrangement of general life affairs, as long as we give priority to health, we can make our life more flexible and don't need to bother too much about planning.

If we reduce our planning, there will be more new things in the present moment, and life will have more surprises. If we act only with awareness every moment, every action will be under our own control, so we will live more easily. If everything is put into the plan, then the future becomes rigid. Those planned things have been imagined countless times in our minds, and when we actually experience them, they lose their freshness.

Letting go of the desire to control tomorrow and not sticking to plans will lead to a more comfortable life today because we get rid of worries about tomorrow. Planning for tomorrow always questions our adaptability and reflects our lack of self-confidence. And such questioning is a form of worry.

Living mechanically according to a plan, we get bored with life. If life was all about repetition and familiarity, then all our plans would fail, and all our expectations would be turned into disappointments by lack of freshness.

Unknown circumstances bring fear because we do not know if we can handle them. New things can also be tense, but facing new things can fully display our vitality. The freshness of life originates from our free consciousness in every moment. By fully engaging in the here and now without waiting for the future, we can experience the existence of freshness from the subtleties of life.

Life is a dynamic process, like the murmuring flow of water, from creeks to rivers, finally merging into the sea. Living in true freedom, our consciousness can be blended into the entirety of nature and no longer an isolated being. And this feeling of integration is the greatest source of freshness.

On August 21, 2023