This Moment Is All Of Life
We have never nor will we ever know any moment other than this moment. It is eternity. Tomorrow is not here, it is not reality. Yesterday, or even five minutes ago, does not exist. The experiences of the past are memories: thoughts from which you can choose your focus and learn. All of life’s stresses come from regrets over the past and concerns over the future which do not exist in this moment: and it is always this moment.
Depriving This Moment Deprives Life
There are so many ways that we deprive ourselves of the value of life:
- dwelling on mistakes made
- wondering how different life would be had a different decision been made
- spending five days a week only looking forward to a weekend
- working for 45 years in anticipation of retirement or a promotion
- obsessing over future home improvement plans.
If you are not living in this moment, you are not living at all, because this moment is all that exists. If you are focused only on your next goal or destination, you will miss the peace and beauty that is right in front of you.
Live With the Past and Future Without Depriving This Moment
Ocean waves washing footprints away on an Atlantic Beach near Miami, Florida.
This is not to say that it is impossible to plan for the future and experience peace of mind. This can be done when making a conscious choice to enjoy the planning and the journey to the goal. Leo Babauta of zenhabits.com posted a great article outlining several ways to accomplish this: Peaceful Simplicity: How to Live a Life of Contentment. Whether you are at work, driving, taking care of your children, working on a long term project, etc., focus on the moment, what you are doing and your decision to enjoy this moment, and therefore, to enjoy life. Knowing that you have this choice, why would you choose otherwise?
Alternatives to the depriving actions mentioned above are as follows:
- learn from mistakes made and express gratitude for the lessons learned,
- accept that every event and decision in your life has brought you to where you are today,
- work slow, steady and with focus and intention,
- enjoy the journey and realize that all of your life is a journey, destinations are few and far between
- enjoy the creative planning process and let it go, focus on what you have right now and enjoy it.
With this attitude, you will find that your life will become easier, your work more productive and your relationships more rewarding and intimate. People will gravitate to you because you will notice them and recognize their importance. You will discover talents and passions in yourself you were to busy to notice before. The world will look different to you.
Daily Action – Live In This Moment
Make a conscious effort today to live in the moment. You will probably find yourself drifting into the past or future or into numbness from time to time. When you notice this, bring yourself back to the moment with intention. Slow yourself down a little bit and concentrate on noticing things along the way that you might not have otherwise noticed.
If you find yourself stuck in a situation where you are feeling bored or impatient, use the time for prayer or meditation: stop lights, traffic jams, waiting rooms, waiting for meeting attendees to arrive, rebooting a computer, etc. These are perfect opportunities for prayer and meditation.
Continue reading about seizing the moment:
Continue reading about meditation:
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