If you often find yourself thinking about what you need to do next, you are missing out on what is happening now. Choose to be in the moment, be here now and life starts to come alive, full of joy.
Being in the moment always made sense to me, yet I often failed to make it part of my daily life. Instead, I was always focussed on yesterday’s’ dramas and chaos, plotting to minimise the impact of the next drama. Goodness knows it was bound to happen and each one was usually more dramatic than the last. I had to think ahead. Self-preservation and protection of my little family. But this came at a cost, missing out on beautiful moments and the joy that was all around me. I remember one time, driving with the kids, both in the back seat of the car. As usual, I was fretting about what I would find when I got home and everything I needed to do to manage the situation, however it unfolded. But I glanced up into the mirror and saw my daughter and son singing away together. Big smiles, loud voices, they were in the moment, together – and I was missing out. I hadn’t even noticed the song that was playing. I almost missed the singing. It was in that instant that I began to wonder how much I was missing every single day. t was at that moment that I realised, I was missing out on joy because I was stuck in my head, plotting how to manage something that hadn’t even happened. For many years, I tried to get my head around the concept of “Being here now.” I just didn’t understand how. After years of working on being in the moment, here are some things that I have learned.
Remove possessions from the past
I began to notice that when I looked at things from the past, my thoughts drifted to the past, pulling back and pulling me down. I now only keep things that are full of love and good memories. Some items I find hard to say goodbye to, so I’ve placed then in a memory box and a trunk. This way I can control when they evoke emotion, only when I choose to one the trunk.
Look for Picasso moments
I once heard about Picasso Moments, those little, little pockets where just in that moment, you want to capture it and frame it because it is so beautiful. Picasso Moments. I grew to look for those and enjoy them. I think that was probably the first step that I took over all those years, just looking for little moments that could make me smile, making a conscious choice to look for them despite all of the chaos that was going on around me.
Appreciate today
Soak in as much of today as you possibly can – the sights, the sounds, the smells, the emotions, the triumph, and the sorrow. These are in our daily lives but we often forget to take them in and truly appreciate them.
Don’t dwell on yesterday
If you are still talking about what happened yesterday, last week, last month, last year or what you achieved before things started to go sideways in life. If you are dwelling on the past, you are living in yesterday and that keeps you from achieving and living today. You have time, plenty of time to build on past successes and create more memories and achievements for future-you. When you choose to be in the moment, fully present, we experience so much more. Our attention and our energy become focused in the moment and on the task at hand. It”s amazing. When we feel this way, we feel alive and unstoppable. The more present we are, the more meaningful our entire lives become. Next time you find yourself fully engaged in the moment, whether you are on a run, practising yoga, creating art or talking to your best friend, take a moment to notice how you feel. What do you observe? What are you thinking about? Enjoy the feeling, capture it so you can recall it later, or recreate it by doing that activity again. This is why I started running regularly, to experience that feeling of being alive and smiling. This didn’t happen overnight, it took me 2 years to get to this stage with my running. Now every time I run, I spread my arms, free and a bird, feeling an incredible lightness. For today, try to be fully present in your daily activities and watch a new reality open for you. Be patient. Give yourself time. It will come.
