Compass of the Times 213

Be Grateful for the Present

Keiko Takahashi

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The Completion of the Year 2021

It has been two years since the COVID-19 pandemic turned the world into turmoil. We are now counting the remaining days of this year for its completion.

What kind of year has it been for you? For many, this year must have been one of a series of trials and tribulations due to COVID-19.

I believe many of you spent your days confined to your homes and participated in GLA gatherings, which were online based, and so there were few Project activities.

Some of you may have been able to use your time at home to read books that you had not been able to do before. Or some of you may have taken time to reflect on yourselves deeply.

Either way, it was certainly a year that imposed great limitations on most of you. And, because of that, you may have had some disappointments or regrets this year. If you have such feelings deeply etched in your mind, I suggest you take those regrets and change them into a new hope to live anew in the next year.

Regardless of whether our own progress this year will be leaning towards either light or darkness, let us cherish the completion of the year 2021.

Think of a New Future

As I have mentioned from time to time, it is important for us to have junctures in our lives. It is because of these junctures that we can naturally look back on our own progress, reset our minds for a new time, and renew our wishes.

Even during the busy year-end season, I hope you will take some time to reflect on the progress you have made this year and draw a blueprint for the coming year.

Reflecting on the reason why our present is the way it is can be an important step for the future.

No matter how our condition is today or how the situation of our reality is, we can draw a picture of a new future.

We can seek a blueprint for the year 2022 and imagine how it should be.

The blueprint does not exist in the extension of the past. It is something that exists in the World of Real Existence, something that comes from the future. The past process does not give limitations to the blueprint.

That is why we can seek a blueprint for the future that we should aim for truthfully, no matter how our present situation is.

Begin from Being Grateful for the Present

As we move toward that new beginning, there is something we must not forget.

That is, no matter what our current situation is, we must instill within us gratitude for our present reality.

Of course, there are those who are in the midst of trials, adversity or are about to enter a troublesome situation. Some of you may feel that it is impossible to be grateful for such a reality of now.

You are, however, willing to rise anew, even in the midst of such a predicament. You are hoping to somehow overcome your trials. You are finding hope in your new challenges. What I am suggesting you do is to start from feeling grateful to be like that at the present time.

This is because being grateful for the present means solidifying the foundation for the future. The mind of gratitude is to take on the various In-En (causes and environment)—connections and energies that have made you who you are.

To be grateful for the present means to feel all the connections and energies that have brought us to where we are now and savor the blessings of those connections and energies. Because we are grateful for the present, we are able to unleash these connections and energies into the future.

This attitude allows us to conclude our past process and provides us a new zero point, a new starting point. It means that we are able to prepare ourselves to step into the next stage, a new challenge, with a truly renewed mind.