Being present

How often do you spend time in the present moment? For many of us, thinking about “right now” has to take a back seat to the duties of tomorrow and the mistakes of yesterday. Being present means in today’s age talking about something that bothered us at work or sorting out the kids’ schedules for the next few weeks.

But what about us? Our needs and our desires?

I think we sometimes get too invested in three things: our futures, our pasts, and the opinions of those around us. It’s really difficult to “just be” when we are too concerned with one, two or all of the three mentioned above. We constantly think about what we did to get into the situation we are currently in. We think about how our futures will be if we can’t figure out our present. And we allow the words of others to make both our past and our future frightening prospects.

Instead of worrying about everything else – the presentation in four days, the date  that went sour two weeks ago, or our friends’ take on what really happened in our last job – let go of all of it. Take care of this moment, and relish in the beauty of being present.

Other people may define you by what you did in your past, but you can define you by what you are doing in this moment. The crabs in your bucket may want to remind you of how your past money mistakes could follow you for the rest of your life. They’ll talk about how it’s so hard to change, and that doing little things today won’t add up to anything significant for your future.

Those crabs are just trying to pull you back down in the bucket with them. But you don’t have to be overtaken by their negativity. Choose to spend each moment wisely; don’t give away your moments to those that won’t fill them with positivity.

Action step

This week, don’t think about anything other than the moment you are in right now. If you have to, schedule some time into your day where you spend time living in the present moment. It could be something as simple as taking a walk without thinking about your bills or spending some extra quiet time with your spouse. Spend your free moments this week engulfed in the present, and “just be.”

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