We all have our come-ups. We all have our peaks. We all have our come-downs. We all live life. Some of us, however, don’t take it well. We all make mistakes that we regret later in life, but there’s nothing we can do about it. We think about the future, and it can be absolutely terrifying.
The present moment is the only moment in your life that you actually have.
Think about this: when you were experiencing anything in your past, you were experiencing it in the “now”. Likewise, in the future, any event in your life will also be experiencing in the “now”. You will always be in the “now”. There are different opinions whether our past and future are real or not – it can get pretty confusing. Yet, our normal way of living is definitely anchored only to this moment. Even if we could travel to the past and re-experience some event (believe me, I think about this every day), we would also experience it in the “now”. The same stands for some imaginary time-traveling future experience.
The question that usually gets tossed around about whether living in the moment is important is a good question to ponder once in a while. I’m not trying to get all philosophical here, but maybe we should. If you’re having trouble, you must define the expression “living in the present” in the first place. To live in the “now” means to live consciously, and to fully express yourself and your surroundings without redundant thoughts or other distractions.
When you’re in the “now”, you are either in a thoughtless state, adding in pure consciousness, or you are constantly thinking or doing something that matters in that moment. There will be no questions about what might happen, what could have happened, or what will happen. We have to learn to accept the past as what it was.
For a little inspiration, Kanye feels the same way too.
Life is the greatest movie we will ever experience, and I’ll tell you why.
Two weeks ago, I traveled down to Arizona to attend the Phoenix Lights festival and it was one of the best weekends in my entire life. And you want to know why? I didn’t think once about my past or future. I was just there. In the moment. With the people whom I cared for the most at the time. Just pure happiness. I didn’t feel a sense of worry or stress and it was extremely magical. Being in that moment taught me to live more in the moment instead of worrying about my future or past. For a girl who struggles with depression and high-functioning anxiety, this was a wake-up call.
It’s okay to think about the future once in a while (sometimes it’s extremely important), but sometimes we just need to sit back and look at what’s in front of us and appreciate the world we live in. That’s the secret to key to happiness.