I say this to myself as well as my friends and family all the time, but I’m going to emphasize it again here.
We constantly hear the phrase “be in the present” moment said to us. But how often are we truly present in our own lives? How often are we “lost in thought” the majority of the time or thinking about something in the past, maybe even something two minutes ago, or something in the future we’re afraid could happen or that we hope will happen?
Maybe it’s because I know a few friends who have either passed away from cancer or are currently battling it … or my grandma losing her memories to the confusing vortex of dementia, maybe it’s because I know people who have lost someone close to them suddenly, a heart attack, a car accident, suicide.
But I ask you again, how often are you actually LIVING your life? How often are you staying present in the moment with whatever you’re doing, whether it’s mundane work or driving or dinner with a friend or loved one or sitting on the couch at home. Are you constantly on your phone, lost in social media? Sure, you’re focused in on something in that moment, but how present are you really to your actual life, the breathing, the people in front of you, the nature around you, the activities going on right in front of your eyes.
I ask these questions because, we all love to say we need to be more present, but are we actually actively doing anything to make that happen or are we just continuing to say it because it sounds good?
I’m not saying it’s easy, but you developed your current mind patterns over many many years, so undoing them, rewiring the brain, creating new patterns is not going to happen over night — in fact, it can take months or years. But we gotta start somewhere … and we have to start now.
Because we aren’t guaranteed a tomorrow.
Our lives or those close to us can be over or changed in an instant. Our egos don’t like to focus on this because it means their existence is threatened. So they’d rather live in the world of day dreaming and denial, they’d rather focus on keeping busy rather than being present and getting caught up in trivial things (or things that are trivial in the grand scheme of life) rather than letting them go and living fully.
I’m not saying we should live in a state of fear for our lives. Besides triggering our fight or flight response in the midst of real danger, fear has no place in the present moment and in our lives. It holds us back from being in the moment and living, from enjoying the people around us and the simple joys of living and breathing. Because we or they can all be gone in an instant.
Talk to anyone who has gone through loss in their life or has fought for their life. It’s a hard way to learn to live fully and presently, to love fully and presently and to never take anything for granted, but most, if not all of them will tell you they learned it.
So, lets start simple. Take one day and think about all the things that truly matter to you in a day’s time, your ideal check list of things you would like to get done in a day (whether it’s contacting a certain person and checking in, or a task or experience, etc.) Then jot down your activities for the day (it can be as detailed or simple as you’d like it). Then, jot down how present you actually were for all of those activities.
Now imagine if this was your last day on earth and ask yourself if you experienced the day the way you would want to had you known it was your last from the start.
Finally, take a moment to remind yourself that you’ll never fully know what’s coming.
And that is OK, it’s a part of this crazy, roller coaster adventure of life. And the NOT KNOWING is the exact reason it is so important to take each moment as a gift and to live your life presently. To give the best energy you can to each moment, each interaction with the person in front of you, each task you do.
Even if you don’t believe in the Law of Attraction, you can’t deny the value in being kind, in going slowly, in loving fully and in being present.
Maybe then life with show you just how amazing it can be.
Love,
~C~