It has been said that there is only one kind of free will: The choice to accept the present moment or to reject it. If you accept it, your life will be filled with joy, love, and flow. If you reject it your life will feel difficult and miserable and stagnant.
The ability to experience the present moment is both innate and learned and is a skill that can be developed. The willingness to exercise the ability to be in the present moment is the manifestation of resilience and is the primary mechanism of mitigating past unresolved trauma and preventing further trauma.
The ability and willingness to be in and accept the present moment when facing seemingly overwhelming or difficult situations, is the mechanism by which any lasting negative effect of that situation can be prevented.
The ability and willingness to be in and accept the present moment when revisiting the memory of past unresolved trauma contributes to the mechanisms by which it becomes resolved.
As opposed to attachment to an idea about what the present moment is or should be, which results in being out of sync with the real present, actual presence is the acceptance of what actually is.
This takes a willingness to continually revise our expectations. We may perhaps be disappointed in the disparity between what we want the present situation to be and what it actually is. We may also be surprised and delighted. This is the choice: to recognize and accept (or not) both our own limitations and the limitations of others and our own strengths and the strengths of others. Our feelings about the recognition of what’s true is a component of the present moment too. We can choose to accept or reject the feelings that arise and reap the reward or pay the consequence of our choice.
We ourselves and others can be wonderful, strong, smart, capable, wise, and fabulous beyond measure, at the same time as we can be weak, ignorant, clumsy, stupid, inept, and entirely ineffective. Being with those extremes and everything in between with unconditional love and acceptance is the way to a world that works for everyone. Embrace the present. Embrace yourself and others.
This is simply the power of the decision to be and stay present.