Do you tend to time travel? Not literally time travel, but mentally. Many of us float back into the past, whether we wish we could relive a previous time in our lives or we live in regret. Others of us find that the future occupies much of our mind, wishing that time would speed up to get us to some anticipated future event. Maybe you are really good at doing both.
Living in the present can be difficult. The point of this article is not to stop you from experiencing regret, reminiscing on good times, planning for the future, or feeling excited about what is to come. It is to remind you (and myself) that the only true moment we have is the one right now, happening as you read this.
When we spend the majority of our time in the present, some wonderful things can happen:
We can respond to our loved ones without much hinderance from past hurts or future anticipations. We are dealing with people right here in this very moment, not some past or future version of them that we hold in our minds.
We remember to live more fully. When we live in the now rather than where we will be in 10 minutes, 10 days, or 10 years, we can give other people and ourselves a richer version of our love and attention.
We tend to miss beautiful little moments when our attention is anywhere but here. Noticing wonderful things happening between others (even strangers) can provide a new perspective on the world
We can see and respond to the needs of not only those around us, but ourselves. Whether you practice mindfulness or not, when was the last time you actually tuned in with yourself and truly new what you needed?
Living in the past or future is a habit that most of us practice to help us organize all of the stuff we have going on in our lives. I recently heard this described as living “somewhen else” and my entire perspective changed.
If you struggle with living “somewhen else,” maybe in a past hurt or in anxiety about the future, we can help you strengthen your skills for breaking through this habit and into a new practice of living in the moment you truly have- right now.