How many of us really live in the moment — this present moment? It can be difficult to do. We often spend too many precious moments rummaging around through the attic of our past, or journeying to the distant shores of our future. When we’re focusing on either the past or the future, we’re missing the present moment. Our life is made up of these moments. It’s the “now”. When our thoughts stray to something that’s already happened — maybe the mistakes we’ve made, or the bad experiences we’ve had — we’re in the past. When our mind wanders around through our fears and “what if’s”, we’re jumping ahead to the future. Neither the past nor the present are here today.
I love Thich Nhat Hanh’s quote on this:
“Life can be found only in the present moment. The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we can not be in touch with life.”
None of us know how many moments we will be able to experience in this life. Why waste any of them? Not being present for our own life is too high a price to pay for being unconscious and unaware. The past is already gone. You can’t change it. You can only change how you think about it, how you interpret the events that have happened, and the emphasis you place on them. The future isn’t here yet. It’s important to plan for it, but it’s impossible to live in it.
There’s a very small book that I found almost 25 years ago. I love it as much today, as I did the day I found it. It’s called “The Precious Present” and it’s written by Spencer Johnson, M.D. It’s a parable about a man seeking the secret to happiness. He travels over many miles and many years searching for what he always had, if only he had known how to recognize and claim it.
You can give yourself the gift of the precious present by learning how to live in the moment. Learn to be aware, learn to accept, and learn to value life just the way it is, just the way you are. Life is happening right now! Don’t miss it!
In this moment, I’m thinking of all of you, and it’s good,
Linda