Over the years I’ve frequently come across various assertions to the effect that it’s impossible to be present all the time. The argument is that this would require a huge amount of brain power and the brain is designed to conserve energy. Far better, contend a lot of writers, to install habits that operate on auto-pilot and which are aligned with one’s goals and well-being.

I didn’t question this proposition until just recently. I asked myself, “has anyone really tried being present all the time?” And more to the point, “why don’t I try it for myself and find out?” So I tried it and quickly realized that it’s next to impossible!

Naturally, I reflected on the outcome of this little experiment in order to make sense of it.

Here’s a metaphor I find useful and which I love sharing: imagine a time-machine into which your mind can step and be instantly flung to another place and time, but with one caveat – your body has to stay here. The body stays behind while the mind travels in time.

For the body, there is only the now, this moment. It cannot and will not ever experience any other time than now. The mind, on the other hand, loves time travel! It loves nothing more than to jump in the time machine and go to the past or the future. In fact, you could say that time travel is the mind’s function, its job AND its favourite hobby.

So the question “is it possible to be present all the time?” is really only applicable to the mind. The body can’t NOT be present all the time. It has no choice in the matter. For the body, the question makes no sense whatsoever.

The way to rephrase the question is to ask, “is it possible for the mind to stay present all the time, attending continuously to the present moment?” Can the mind stay out of the time machine?

Clearly, the mind doesn’t HAVE to step into the time machine, although it seems to be designed to do just that and is conditioned to do it for the great majority of our time on earth as human beings. And this has brought tremendous benefits to all of us, in the form of culture and technology, because when we CREATE, we are in fact imagining something that’s not yet here. To be creative, you have to step into the time machine.

The reality is that our minds jump into the time machine almost automatically, with no reflection or choice on our part. It’s the mind’s default setting. What seems to require conscious choice and effort is to NOT step into the time machine.

From this perspective, the question becomes, “when is it useful to step into the time machine and when is it not useful?”

If one steps into the time machine to create art or invent something that doesn’t yet exist, or to plan a project, then that would be useful. If one steps into the time machine to replay a negative experience over and over or worry about impending catastrophes, then that would not be very good use of this wonderful machine.

So take a moment now and ask yourself, is my mind inside the time machine or is it reunited with the body in this moment?

If your mind is hanging out in the time machine, you could ask if what it’s doing in there is useful or not. If it isn’t useful, why not choose to re-join the body in the present moment? At least until you can find a good reason and a good use for stepping back into the time machine.