From here to there

For many of us the view close in, right here, right now, can be less appealing than some other distant point in the picture.  Whether it's the distant past -- the way things were -- or the distant future -- the way things will be once X happens  (whatever X is) -- almost any point in time other than here has a sort of rosy idealized glow to it, while here can be a bit ... gritty.  Here, right now, we're making do with what we've got: things are worn, inadequate, not quite holding water and it's getting a little old. 

Yet all the sages tell us the only surefire way to get from the gritty here to that idealized there -- heaven, nirvana, enlightenment, or whatever -- is to be fully here: engaged, conscious, present, aware.  So take a deep breath, climb into now and pick up your oars. Because here is the only boat that will take us to there...