4 Tips To “Living In The Moment”

Living In The Present Moment — by Catherine Morgan

Are you only concerned with adding days to your life, and forgetting to add life to your days? If so, you are not alone. This is a problem many of us have, and the reason we should all try to make a conscious effort, to live in the present moment.

When we are living in the moment, we are totally immersed in what we are doing. I’m not suggesting in any way, that we should attempt to live in the moment 100% of the time, as much as it would be great if we could, it’s just not practical. To do that, we would be setting ourselves up for failure. What I want you to do, is just make an “attempt” at living in the present moment, this is a positive start, and in the right direction. So, how can you start? Well, you start with “awareness”.

picture by © malachony

First, be conscious of what you are thinking. Make a mental note whenever you find yourself focusing on something negative. Are there certain things that come up more than other things? Most likely, your negative feelings are based in something from your past, or something you fear in your future.

Second, write down on a piece of paper, some of the negative thoughts that are coming up more than others. Just try for two or three right now, you don’t want to be overwhelmed. If in a few days, you find that this exercise was helpful, then by all means, go back and work on a few more issues. Just take it slow, no rush, no pressure.

Third, look at these negative thoughts for a minute. The ones that are from your past, even if it was just yesterday, put a “P” next to them. The ones that are worries or fears of something in your future, even if it is tomorrow, mark with an “F”.

Forth, take some time to “brain-storm” with these thoughts. Are they things that are totally out of your control? Or something from your past, that there is no way to change? Put a line through any of those types of thoughts. Anything still on the paper, take some time to jot down different ideas of how you might reconcile the issue. There is no right or wrong way to do this. Be as brief or as detailed with this as you would like to be.

This process is about awareness, nothing more, nothing less. You need to be “aware” of your thoughts, not just let them run wildly in your head. This is the first step to living in the present moment. Even if you are only “in the moment”, for a few minutes a day, that is better than not at all. So now, when these thoughts come into your head, stop yourself from letting them bother you, let them go. Doing this should be easy, since you are now aware of them, and know what you can control and what you cant. Now you can replace those thoughts, with the things that right now (the present moment), you are grateful for. Just be at peace with this moment, and with yourself.

Now, think about this. The only moment in which we can truly be happy, is the present moment. The only moment that we have control of, is the present moment. So let go of the negative thoughts, and be happy now! Because if not now, then when?

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