Live in the Now: Be Free of the Past and the Future
I hope you had a chance to read last week’s blog and have been practicing keeping aware of every moment and accepting it for what it is. Now here are a few hints that can help anyone to live in the moment or in the right now more readily and constantly. At least they have helped me and I hope they can do the same thing for you.
1. Be free of unease. Make a conscious effort to monitor your thoughts and feelings by constantly asking “What is going on in my mind right now?” Halt any worrying questions about the past or the future.
2. See if in those monitored moments you can catch yourself complaining in speech or thought. If so, you are probably “playing the victim”. Calmly silence that kind of chatter.
3. Always remember that to complain is not accepting of “what is” and it’s usually something that is in the past or something you anticipate that will happen in the future. Either do something about your complaint or accept it.
4. As you move, as you play or as you work, do it totally in the great “right now” as if this one moment is all there is and all you want.
It’s interesting to note that many times, even when a person is engaged in an activity that is meant to be fun and enjoyable, it can be ruined or at least diminished by what the brain is doing or not doing. I’ve noticed for example, that many times when I am playing a tennis match–especially in a tournament–that the more I think about a bad shot that I just made or wonder if I might be able to win this particular game or set I find myself not enjoying this game that I play in order to have fun. Plus I notice that when I am having thoughts about the recent past (the bad shot) or the future (if I can win this game, set, or match) I usually don’t play near as well as I know that I can. So I am losing in two ways—first, I am no longer having fun and second, I end up losing the match. That’s pretty dumb, don’t you agree? And it doesn’t have to be that way, not if I just work on training my brain to live “in the now” and I mean that “right this moment now”!
It’s certainly ok and even fun to recall and reminisce over good and fun times of the past and it’s quite necessary to do some planning and goal setting for the future but the key is, don’t spend the majority of your time in those two places. For maximum peace of mind, pleasure, and feeling of fulfillment, spends most of your life in the great “right now”. Make “the now” the primary focus of your life.
Hey mark, I just wanted to thank you letting me have your book. It’s already made I big difference in my life. I have lost 11 lbs since I started reading your book and for the first time in years I have a plan and idea where I want go in my life. On the first of the month of July I made a “Slap Bet” with my friend. The terms of which that if we both don’t lose 10 lbs by the end on the month we have to slap each other “hard” in the face. It’s a bit barbaric but it gave us a time frame and a goal. all the great insight you have given me has made it much easer. I just wanted to thank you, and I thought you might enjoy my little story.
Daniel, thanks for your very kind comments……..good luck and never give up!! Mark O Haroldsen