The Here and Now: The Gift of The Present

So many of us in today's society go through life at a rapid speed - so fast that we often don't remember to truly live in the moment and cherish every second. We're always thinking of the past - what we could do to change it or what we could have said or done, and also in the future - what we could be doing, what we want to do later, what we wish we were, etc. Too many times we're thinking of things or concepts that have either already happened or haven't happened (and maybe won't happen).

We can't keep living like this! If you really critically think about this, if we continuously think about the past and what we could be doing in the future, we're never really experiencing the 'here and now' - in other words, we're not truly experiencing. We are simply agents of thought, consumed with the ideas of before and after, never actually now. It's crazy, isn't it?!?!

So why is it that we can't stop this train of thought? (Literally, going back and forward)...

Well, I have a couple of ideas.

First, our society dictates that we're supposed to feel retribution for our actions, that we need to think critically about subjects, to contemplate life's happenings, to think about what we did and really learn from it. Yeah, that's all well and good, but how much of what we've done in the past do we truly and seriously learn from? Not much, I'd say. At least, not enough to keep thinking about it constantly and not living in the real moment.

Second, many of us are so entranced with the idea of the future - the unknown, the mystery of the future, the unwritten. We want to know what will happen, we have goals we want to achieve and start planning for them now for the future...Again, all well and good, but still doesn't make us take a second, right this second!, and say, 'Oh yeah, remember the moment of now? Literally, this split second, fleeting, changing, moving, never to be replaced or seen again?' Yeah, that's what I thought. You didn't...And don't typically ever do.

I propose a radical concept here: Forget the past, dispose of your thoughts of the future, just for today. And think about just moving...Moving forward and continuously in motion...Floating, coasting, evolving. This is living.

 

Try it. Just for a while. You might see that you really enjoy it. 

Now that's life changing.