Embrace the Now: A Poem on Trust and Uncertainty

Overthinking is wasting your time, my friend  
Let go of fretting thoughts in your mind, just send   
Them away, don't let them cause you to bend    
And break, like waves crashing again and again    
Rushing the shoreline, eroding the sand    
Don't keep replaying scenarios first planned    
In your mind, as if going as you'd thought    
When often they do not, so cease being distraught    
Live in the now, stay focused today      

Things never went so bad in the past    
You made it through every trial and test    
Every storm weathered, every mountain crest    
Climbed and crossed over, through every impasse    
Every hardship endured, you persevered       
All the dark times and troubles you steered    
Your way through, still standing steadfast     
You survived each one, none ever the last    
You are stronger now for what you have passed   

It won't go that bad even this time    
Every new challenge, another to climb    
But you've grown since those hardships before    
Gained wisdom and skills to open the door    
To making it through what comes into view    
With resilience you never thought you could do    
But now know you have, since over and over    
You've conquered the storms life threw your way    
This time is no different, you'll make it, I say    

Let the focus be living in this moment    
Not dwelling on "what ifs" to foment    
Worries about things unlikely to be    
Stay present, know you have the key    
To moving ahead without hesitate    
Dealing with problems if they resonate    
Into being, not fretting on those    
That linger just in your thoughts, never shows    
Reality matching your mind's supposed woes   

For all that you've overcome, have faith in    
Your strength to handle what comes, don't give in    
To thinking the worst will transpire    
When most times it does not, you can aspire    
To making the best of what comes to pass    
Meet challenges head on, prepared to surpass    
Whatever arises, don't waste time in dread    
Of phantoms in your mind, forge on ahead    
Stay grounded in now, by fears don't be led.

You survived each hurdle in the past    
Every trial you met and unsurpassed    
Even when you doubted you could make it    
You found in yourself what it took to take it    
To the limits and come out standing tall    
When it felt like you could stumble and fall    
You reached down deeper and gave it your all    
To cross the finish line, to conquer all    
You persevered in the midst of it all   

This time will be no different from the rest    
You know what you’ve overcome, passed each test    
So when challenges arise, meet them with zest    
And courage, with faith in yourself, be your best    
Bring all you have learned, know there’s a way    
You’ll make it across to the brighter day    
That waits on the other side of the fray    
Head on, surmounting each twist and turn    
From your past victories, wisdom you’ve earned   

Don't dwell on what problems may yet come to light    
Stay centered and calm, keep your focus in sight    
On handling what's here and now needing dealt    
Not getting weighed down by each "could" you felt    
Might happen, unsure futures that linger    
As specters of doubt, causing you to finger    
The edges of fear, but it's not yet clear    
What's really in store, no matter how near    
Seems the threat in your mind, so persevere    

Tomorrow's uncertainties, let them be      
Don't invite in more worries unneeded    
To crowd out the present, keep sight steady   
On what you can control, let the rest fade    
Out of mind, as you purposefully wade    
Into living and doing what needs done    
Without getting distracted by what may come    
But not here yet to deal with, this battle's won    
By focusing just on today, then you'll see    
The next one more smoothly, just take it easy.

The future's uncertainties you'll traverse    
When you arrive there, no need to rehearse    
In your mind scenes of doubt, better to immerse    
In the current, what's standing right before you    
Not occupying thoughts with what looms distant    
And unclear, no point to grow more resistant    
To the present by fearing futures existent    
Only in your mind, stay here where the living    
Happens, attend to what's your present giving.

Tomorrow you'll handle tomorrow's affairs    
Cross each bridge as you come to it, no need pairs    
Of problems today with those unmet stairs    
You have yet to arrive at, climb the ones where    
You stand now, trusting when you reach the next    
You'll have grown stronger, up to the test    
Of ascending higher, just stay focused on this    
Step in front of you now, dismiss the mist    
Of future steps from filling your head up.

Let go of the need to know how it will all    
Play out, it will do so step by step, walk tall    
Into each moment, give it your all    
To fully engage in what's laid before you    
Instead of dividing focus on two    
Time frames, the present and future too    
You rob both of full presence by dividing    
Yourself thus, stay whole in what's unfolding    
Right here and now, attentive and beholding.

Give present events your undivided mind    
Not jumping ahead, leaving your focus behind    
To wander in futures unformed undefined    
Staying aligned with the here and the now    
Will see you through, don't forget how    
You've overcome all up to this point already    
You'll cross the next bridge when you get to it steady    
By minding this moment, assured and ready    
To handle what comes, focus on the here

Worrying about what-ifs that may appear    
Will only distract you from chances right near    
To engage with life's gifts, keep your vision clear    
For seeing what's before you right in this minute    
Not clouded with visions of troubles that spin it    
So you cannot see straight, worries inhibit    
Your power to fully show up and live it    
The present, when freed of the future's shadows    
Flow into the now, its unfolding follow.

Tomorrow's uncertainties will still come    
But stay rooted here, living in the sun    
Of today as it shines, know you've begun    
To build the skills and wisdom you'll avail    
When you face the unknown, you will prevail    
Having learned from your past, brought to scale    
Your resilience and faith, you cannot fail    
To handle what comes next in line, you'll find    
Within you the light to guide you through each time.

What problems may lurk over the horizon    
You'll discover in due time, till then eyes on    
What's laid out before you now, don't be undone    
By future's anxieties, meet them when    
They arrive, till then don't invite them in    
To rob you of now, stay free of the din    
Their worries would bring, quiet the inner twin    
Voices of fear and doubt, stay tuned in    
To this moment unfolding, that's how you'll win.

Tomorrow you'll handle when it becomes today    
Worrying now won't show you the way    
When that time comes, have faith you'll allay    
Your fears and rise up to meet the unknown    
When it arrives wait till you have grown    
Nearer, gained perspective to have fully shown    
The shape of it, you'll handle what's thrown    
Your way in due time, but for now make way    
For the gifts of the present, here let stay.

The future will come, that you know is a fact    
But arriving too early will only distract    
So wait patiently for it, don't react    
Or resist the not-knowing, flow with life's tide    
There's purpose in seasons of darkness inside    
The womb of unknowing, then we'll decide    
With wisdom when finally we reach the outside    
What was shaping itself all along, abide    
In not-knowing till the right time provides.

There are lessons to learn from uncertainty    
How to find inner strengths, develop trust free    
From needing control, feel each moment’s beauty    
When simply embraced as it is, see the gifts    
In life's mysteries, how the unknown uplifts    
Us to growth unforeseen, each challenge sifts    
From us more layers of self till we're left    
Bare to our essence, we withstand the test    
By surrendering need for sureness and rest.

Overthinking the future binds up your mind    
Trapping flow of life's currents, better to find    
Release into now's stream where you'll be reminded    
All that awaits you remains yet undefined    
Floating in potential, stay still aligned    
With the pulling ahead you feel but stay kind    
To not knowing what comes, often you'll find    
The unknown had gifts you'd missed if you'd tried    
To grab at life's reins, forcing the ride.  

Trust in the timing of life, it reveals all    
In its season, but trying to pull back the pall    
Too soon from the future tightens all    
Into knots, fighting the flow, better recall    
All the gifts that arrived unexpectedly    
At just the right time, though you couldn't see    
Them taking their shape in potentials that be    
So release expectations, float and be free    
Carried by life's currents, wherever they lead.

Have faith in yourself and trust in the flow    
To handle what arises, just take it slow    
Moment by moment, there's no need to know    
More than arrives in its time, you will grow    
To meet each occasion, life will bestow    
The means and the skills you will come to sow    
When it's time and place comes, you cannot force though    
The river ahead, be patient and go    
With trust into each bend and turn as they show.  

Tomorrow's a mystery yet to unfold    
Do not be impatient, in time you'll behold    
Its shape and then tend to it once foretold    
For now rest in the not-knowing, let your hold    
On certainty loosen, allow vice-like control    
O'er the future to ease up, breathe in the whole    
Of this moment just as it is, let it console    
Your need to know how things will come to be    
Mystery has its own rhythm, just breathe free.

Seek not to grasp at the shape of tomorrow
It emerges in time, unfolding each sorrow
And joy as they're needed to help you grow
Flow with not knowing, a river meandering slow    
But ever advancing, trusting its ebb and its flow
Are moving you onward to where you should go
Have faith in life's currents, surrender control   
To the mystery ahead, let uncertainty console
Your need for a set path, just trust where they take you
No map could guide better through all you'll go through

Making your peace with not knowing brings ease
To embody the moment with joy and grace
No longer divided, be fully present
Engaged here and now, attention not lent  
To future's horizon of hazy unknowns
Stay rooted in what the day's already shown   
More will reveal when the time is just right
Do not force its unfolding, flow in life's might   
Embrace the transition of dark into light
Ride the waves as they come, dip and surge bright

Tomorrow may bring unexpected blessings
Or trials to grow stronger in their pressing
But you'll meet them with skills honed while testing
Your mettle today, each day investing
In building your wisdom and resilience
To weather the storms or days of brilliance
You cannot know now how they'll come to play
So make yourself ready come what may
By fully embracing the gifts in today
The rest will unfold, have faith in the way

Worrying about things that do not exist  
Only steals from the present, make sure to resist
The pull of obsession with darkness or bliss
That lives in the future you fail to enlist    
In your efforts today so release now your grip    
On controlling life's flow, lightly let slip    
Into currents that move you, stay out of the dip    
Of despairing what is not, train your focus on this
Very moment before you, that you cannot miss
If you want to meet well the unknown with its kiss

Making peace with uncertainty opens things up
To move and unfold naturally without your grasp
Forcing life's flow, relax your hold, take a cup
And toast to the journey ahead, you are enough
To handle what comes by building your skills
In the present, the rest time alone reveals
Have patience and faith, plant the seeds that you feel
Are yours to offer life now, help them yield
The fruits they will in time, nourished in fields
Where wonder and mystery grow, let it heal

Trust in life’s unfolding, you’ll see at each turn
You’ll know how to handle all challenges you’ll learn
Are placed on your path, have the grace to discern
The gifts they contain and the strengths you will earn
For having transcended their tests of your nerve
Your courage and will, you’ll see how you deserve    
To make it across to the new day’s bright verge
By fully embracing all that you did submerge
Through in the past days and trials, don’t diverge
From the path by worrying what’s round the curve

Make peace with not knowing, life comes as it may  
Our part is accepting each step of the way  
Release needing firm plans, meet life day by day
Flow with it in faith, come what may
Know you'll have grown stronger in unpredictable weather  
To handle what arises by staying together       
In step with the present, not lost in some ether
Of fantasy future, dismiss the mind's bother    
Of "what if" and "could be" and "might," free each other,
Now, mind, from projections filled with dread that smother

Simply release unchecked thoughts of what's ahead
And return to the here and the now, make your bed    
In this moment before you, allow your heart shed    
Its heaviness born of imaginings of the dread    
That may or may not come, flow back to the thread    
Of this minute unfolding, remember instead    
All the unforeseen graces that came in the stead    
Of disasters you feared, how life weaves ahead    
On its own terms in time, we are led    
By forces unseen that guide us straight
When we flow with life's currents, our own efforts frustrate   

The key is accepting each moment as given
Not needing to know how the path ahead's driven
Release into trusting life's flow, go on living
Fully into the present, attentively listening
For intuitions that guide you through each turn and twist in  
The journey, relax into all that exists in
The now without pressure to force or resist in    
The least life's unfolding, let go, go on glistening
With sweat from the labor of fully assisting
In what needs done now, leave the future, desisting
From projections of worry, just enter the bliss in
Receiving the now as it is, move with certitude

When we learn to accept each step as it comes
Without judging or fearing, our sight overcomes
The habit of projecing ahead troubles or plums
Instead we align with the flow that succumbs
All efforts to micromanage how it proceeds
It follows its own rhythm, twists, bends and leads      
Us along, if we follow where it intercedes       
With our plans and opens to moments it pleads
For our presence within, loving whatever succeeds
In arriving before us, darkness or light that recedes
And gives way to the next step, we meet life's needs
By embracing the now, coming what may, have faith
Flow on in trust life will show you the way