Many of us don’t realise it, but our minds spend a great deal of the time in either the past or the future. We spend a lot of time thinking about past events, opportunities, mistakes and how we could have, or should have, done things differently. We plan future events, work strategies, holidays, social successes and often return to the same thoughts again and again.
As well as spending all this time in the past or the future, our minds are also filled with continuous chatter, much of this is fairly trivial, but it keeps the mind busily occupied.
The result of all this is that we rarely find the time to focus on the “now” – what we are actually doing right at this present moment.
The reality is that we can only be sure of having the time we are currently experiencing. There is no guarantee that we will be alive to experience the plans that we are making for an event in 6 months’ time. I’m not saying we shouldn’t spend time planning. It’s important that we do. However we need to keep in mind that the only life we can be sure of is today, and we should try to make the most out of every day that we have. Dismissing today while focussing on some exciting experience planned for the future, is missing out on much of our lives. It was John Lennon who said “Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans”
Living in the “now” means giving your full attention to what you are doing this very second. If you are talking to someone, focus on them and what they’re saying, rather than thinking where you’d prefer to be or what you have to do tonight. This focus has the effect of making you more aware of your surroundings and what you’re doing. It reduces the level of background clutter in your mind and assists you to enjoy the current moment.
There is an introductory chapter on this subject in our book “The Rest of Your Life”.
Paul McKeon