Living In The Moment

By Dirk de Bruin Published in clarity

I never understood why some people would work late into the night and sleep most of their mornings away, but now that I am sitting here, at 1am, listening to the same song on repeat, I get it.

When the rest of the world is asleep, there are very few distractions. There are no phone calls and no urgent tasks that need to be done at this time of the morning. I can completely focus myself on my work and let my creativity glow.

You may have read The Power of Now, or studied the Sedona method. Both these resources focus on teaching you how to get your mind in the present to forget about your worries and to really live in the moment.

The thing is, if you hear these “Living in the moment” thoughts from others, you’ll likely agree with their teachings, however, it’s hard to fully grasp the truth behind them, and to put them into practice in your own life.

Explore: Living in the Moment

Recall the times when you felt most alive?

I bet it was when you were with friends or family, maybe on top of the Eiffel Tower, maybe playing a game or a sport, maybe when racing your car or dancing the night away.

I bet it was when your entire being, body and soul were totally immersed in the moment and in the experience. I bet you had zero thoughts focused on worrying about the future or regretting the past.

I am asking you to recall the moments in your life when you felt ecstatically alive, because I believe that you can choose to live this way, most of the time.

You can choose to be completely present-minded, enjoying every moment of right now, second after second, minute after minute. You can’t feel alive in the past and you can’t feel alive in the future. You can only feel alive right now, in this moment.

Why would you want to spend every day worrying about the things that can go wrong? Why would you want to spend every day regretting the past? The sun could burn out, wars could start, you could get robbed or shot, you could lose your job, important relationships could come to an end. Any of these things could happen in the next 5 minutes, but they could also happen in 10 years, or even after your lifetime.

The past will never, ever change. What’s done is done, no matter how hard you wish or how much you think about it. Live and learn, life is a journey and the journey is the destination.

But this moment right now…it’s priceless. Every single moment of right now is a gift. You don’t know what tomorrow will bring. It may bring happiness and joy, and it may bring bad news.

This doesn’t mean that I am suggesting that you just forget about everything, and live in the moment. We are all unique individuals. What may work for me may not work for you. We all have our path for living happily.

For me, I make plans for the future. I like to think of scenarios that could occur, and I like to have targets to work towards. I like to think back to the past sometimes, and although there are things that I’m not completely happy with, I don’t regret anything. I am the sum of all my experiences, both good and bad. If anything in my past would be different, I would not be who I am today.

I’m scared sometimes. I fear that I won’t be able to build a successful business and that I will not make money. Sometimes I doubt my own abilities, and I wonder if I’m good enough for the world. These are the thoughts that surface when I get in my head too much, and I let that negative social conditioning take control.

My desire to live and to succeed is far greater than my fear of failure. The past is over, and all we can do is learn from them.

The future is uncertain, and it is coming, whether we worry about them or not.

Right now, I’m focused on writing this post and on nothing else. I feel really alive, aware of all my senses and everything around me. I feel connected to the world. And I feel like this is the best way to live, to be, and to experience.

Tomorrow is coming whether I sleep, eat, party or work. It’s a matter of hours and minutes. I could worry about what it will bring, or what could go wrong. But instead, I choose to enjoy being alive right now, to live in this moment, and to trust in myself that I will be able to handle whatever is coming.

Some may see this as fatalistic thinking. Maybe it is, but does that make it right or wrong? I once heard a saying, “There is no right and wrong, only actions and consequences.”

All I know is that constantly worrying about the future and what could go wrong creates massive stress and unhappiness. Not only that, but it also focuses your thoughts and entire being on the negative. Whether you believe in the Law of Attraction or not, I really think that you attract what you focus on. You are what you think…

What do you think? Do you worry a lot? What if you just focused on the present moment, become aware of everything around you?

How does the air smell? What do you feel? What do you see? What do you hear? What do you taste?

Can you feel your worries fade away when you focus on this moment, right now?
~~~~

Open Call to Writers

Do you want to share what you learned recently? Perhaps a challenge you overcame? Or a thought that inspired you? We are opening up the floors of Think Simple Now in accepting new, unpublished, self-reflective writing from you. We want to hear your stories, discoveries and learning through everyday occurrences that triggered a deeper reflection. Interested? Read more here.