FEEL THE POWER OF THIS SIMPLE CONCEPT
We as a society have suffered for a long time and we now seem to have a big problem with being mentally present. We have our cellphones preoccupying most of our time, not to mention our commitments, jobs and thoughts of the past and future to always worry about but the one thing we seem to lack is the sense of being in touch with the present moment.
It only takes one distraction for us to completely ignore the thing/s we should be giving most of our time to, yet we mess it up.
There is an answer to the inability to be present, but most don’t care to apply it. For some people the reason may be different than others but the end result in freeing the mind always requires the same course of action… to tackle it head on.
There’s a strategy to “living in the here and now” and there are many techniques which you can practice for self-improvement.
This is where most of the anxiety and stresses of today come from… but we could easily diminish it by a large amount if we learned to feel the power of the simple concept of “Living in the here and now” …
Where Are You In Your Life?
What feelings do you possess on a daily basis? Do you feel good about yourself and where you’re at in life?
Does worry and mental disturbances creep in when you finally do settle down in your thoughts?
If the answer to these questions are less than desirable, than you know you need to do something so that you can be more mindful toward your emotions.
Only you can know what you’re feeling and what is possibly holding you back from being your best and most happy self.
But…
It does take effort however, you’ll thank yourself for being honest and willing to make necessary changes for your overall wellbeing.
What’s the next step?
In order to better your situation, there’s a few things you can do to start…
- Write down what’s bothering you, so you can begin to create peace within yourself.
- Start to dig out the roots of your problems
- Don’t procrastinate with anything you know you need to get done.
- Talk to someone who can help you eliminate mental distractions.
- Practice mindful techniques (Meditation, self-affirmation, CBT etc.)
These methods of ridding your mind from noise and distractions are recommended for better mental health. In fact, they can bring you into a place of serenity which you have never experienced.
So, do yourself a favor and make the time to care for your mental health as you present, and future depend on it.
Have You Forgiven Yourself?
It’s such a simple thing but have you actually forgiven yourself? If you have not and/or are just not able too, then it is your duty as a human being to make this happen.
Understand that no one is perfect and the only thing separating you from feeling peace is letting go of what you’ve thought about yourself…
Now this coupled with other methods of mental recovery will be the icing on the cake.
What are the benefits of forgiving yourself?
- You’ll have more peace with yourself
- You can finally let the past go
- You can spend more time enjoying the present moment
We all need to be more forgiving to ourselves and when we decide to do this, we are not the only ones who benefit from it.
Reasons To Live In The Moment
When your thoughts cloud your ability to be in the present moment, it affects your loved ones significantly. One simple decision is all it takes… to change your life and to have more meaningful relationships while keeping them.
You see, “living in the here and now” is so much more than what it sounds like and it’s so much more than just you.
You need to live in the moment for many reasons and these include:
- Family time
- Focusing in an effort to progress in life.
- Self-happiness and peace
- Self-respect
Your relationships with your family, friends, coworkers etc. depends on your ability to live in the “here and now.”
If you cannot focus than you cannot succeed in anything. Respect yourself and respect the necessity to have peace within. Mindfulness equates to respectfulness as you’re taking the time out of your day to acknowledge your surroundings.
Not only do other people appreciate this but so does the universe. We are divine beings and we were not made to be distracted from the reason/s we exist.
Perfecting The Practice Of Living In The Here And Now
Start Now
What are you doing right now? Likely you are reading this, so begin to focus on the experience. What does the page look like? What does the room smell like?
What colors are present in the room? How do you feel right now? What emotions are you experiencing? How does your body feel as you read this book?
Take in the entire experience of the moment. Practice this daily and really focus on each moment of your day. Push away thoughts of the future and the past and stay in the moment that you are in.
Take in everything and make it a habit.
Take Time To Meditate Daily
Practice makes perfect so take time every day out of your schedule to do some form of meditation. There are so many different ways to do it but it’s important to pick a form of mediation to ease your mind.
The benefits of meditation are incredible and abundant …
- Increased awareness
- Improved mental health
- Improved breathing
- Increased ability to be in the present moment
Meditation is an amazing habit in an effort to create better habits. If you perform meditation daily, you will increase and improve your ability to “live in the here and now.”
Studies have shown meditation be as effective in many ways as medication and other talk-therapies. Although in combination with the other types of therapy, the effects can be even more pronounced.
Meditation can be done in different ways, in different places and for any desired length of time but it’s important that it’s done…
The benefit of being able to tap into your inner being and focus on what’s going on right now rather than worrying about your surroundings is a major benefit of meditation.
Seek Therapy to Help You Live in the Now
Therapy is a very effective method for learning how to “live in the here and now” … sometimes we need certain techniques and a therapist of some type to help us manage our mental place, and there’s nothing wrong with this.
Lots of people see a therapist yearly in order to be able be more focused on the present. Managing your thoughts can be a tough task especially if you have no idea how to calm them down on a consistent basis.
There are several types of therapies which you can participate in and you can even find many if a therapist is not an option for you.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a very popular method to managing a healthy mind as you can really learn how to see the present moment as it is. CBT helps to prevent the negative effects of overthinking while providing you with coping methods which can eliminate the preoccupation with excessive thoughts.
Take a Yoga/Relaxation Class
Sometimes natural methods of getting the body to work together and finding tranquility is underrated as it is not always an instant fix (Nothing is by the way). Medications are always pushed by doctors, yet the effects wear off when use is discontinued.
Medications alone are not a sustainable option for maintaining mental health and this is where methods like Yoga come in.
Yoga helps you to become one with the body and to learn the ins and outs of how it works to keep you healthy and functioning properly.
Deep breathing is incorporated with yoga routines because the importance of deep breathing contributes so much to overall health and wellbeing.
You can take a class or watch a video while following along with a Yoga routine. We have so many resources these days so there’s no reason Yoga shouldn’t be a part of a good routine which teaches you to “live in the now.”
The great thing about Yoga is there are so many ways to do it and there are so many instructors which can guide you through a routine which will best suit your needs.
Now, it can be intimidating to sign up for a class but do whatever works best for you. Platforms like YouTube are perfect for learning Yoga and the content creators understand how to structure a session that is perfect for at home participants.
Manage Your Illnesses/Ailments By Being Mindful
So many people suffer from sicknesses, but the question is… are they all legitimate sicknesses? The answer is no!
Now some really are but many are due to improper thinking patterns and mental disturbances which cause us to feel sick and/or to develop physical conditions.
If you can decide to apply the simple concept of understanding these thoughts have nothing to do with you, a healing begins to take place within and you can start to focus on what your body desires.
Your body is not falling apart just because it wants to, but it is because you believe it is…
This is a bad habit and it can lead to a life if misery while actually causing mental and physical illness. It’s best to learn how to train your mind now so that long term problems do not result.
It’s really not an option for us as mental and physical health is a serious matter not to be ignored or put aside to deal with another time.
The time is right now to “Live in the here and now.” It can be as enjoyable as you make it, but you must make an important decision (As we all do).
So how does being mindful prevent sicknesses?
- By focusing on “what is” rather than “what if.”
- Changing your thought patterns to support positivity rather than negativity.
- By understanding there’s nothing actually wrong with you and these are only symptoms of negative thinking and actions.
Yes, mindfulness can change your life and it’s totally worth the little time you’d spend maintaining good habits. The habits you form will determine your overall wellbeing.
Millions of people resort to medications when a simple concept can alleviate so much pain and suffering in many cases.
Progressing Effectively
Progression requires us to really focus if we are to move to the next step in life. You cannot skip a step as it’s extremely important to finish the now before you can move on to something further ahead.
This is a common-sense method and proves everything that we know regarding productivity and progression. Success and accomplishment do not come over night but doing a little bit each day will prove to be the answer to your happiness and fulfillment.
Many times, we think about the past or too far ahead which causes us to be discouraged and do nothing at all.
But living in the now gives us a perfect perspective of what to do next and we begin to understand how vital its function is to our overall strategy.
Effective progression requires the following actions:
- Appreciating the present moment.
- Understanding life requires a sequential process.
- Doing a little day by day by reasonably considering how your past efforts will help you to have a better present and future.
Experiencing progress requires a certain focus which cannot be achieved by being too distracted so take the time to see your situation for what it is and plan to make it better.
Find Your Happy Place
If we don’t make quality time for ourselves, life can get really overwhelming pretty fast. This is why it’s important for us to find a place where we can settle down and be in touch with ourselves mentally and physically.
What is a happy place?
A happy place is somewhere we can go to when we want to wind down and/or it could be a mental place which we’ve created to relieve the stress placed on our minds throughout the day.
Where can a happy place be?
It can be essentially anywhere as long as you’re not stressed out when you’re there. It could be by the pool, the beach, any outdoor place, a part of your house or even listening to a soundtrack of music if it calms you down regardless of your physical location.
Why is it important to find a happy place?
It’s important to take little “mini vacations” throughout the day because if you don’t, your anxieties, worries and depression symptoms can accumulate to be much worse.
When you’re working and/or too focused on other things in life, you take time from own wellbeing (This is ok when done in a healthy manner) and you need a “break” so that you can recuperate and be ready for what comes next.
Don’t overthink it… just favor what brings you relaxation and joy and you’ll soon be “living in the here and now” much more often than previously.
You’ll definitely notice a big difference in the way you feel and the way you handle stress.
Get More Involved With The Important Things In Life
Living in the now means being present wherever you’re at mentally and physically. This means if you’re doing something good for someone else, appreciate the moment and don’t be worried about what happened yesterday and/or what will happen sometime in the near future.
If you’re still healthy and breathing this is a sign that you have the opportunity to serve a purpose bigger than yourself.
Don’t neglect this aspect of life because when you really need it to be there, it may not because of your preoccupation with things that mean little to nothing overall.
Showing others, you can be attentive is a great way to practice “living in the here and now” which will benefit you more than you could possibly imagine.
It just takes a reevaluation of your priorities and when you really take a step back, you’ll see that your purpose involves much more than what you thought.
So be present and be someone who others want to share things with you and you’ll achieve ultimate levels of fulfillment.
It’s OK to Not Always Meet Your Expectations
Setting high expectations is a great thing and everyone should do it to some extent. However, where we go wrong is when we become discouraged when things don’t work out at first or even for a while.
Expectations that are not met can do a number on your self-esteem/confidence.
This is why it’s so crucial to be “in the now.” We can set realistic goals based on our current situation which are realistically attainable.
We will feel good about making progress, yet we won’t fall into a depression when we don’t achieve them as soon as we think we should have. Such an overlooked strategy and this is why we’ve all heard of the importance of setting short and long terms goals.
The short-term goals are achievable in near future and long term is where you eventually want to be while not focusing so much on the latter.
Even if you don’t achieve your short-term goals in a reasonable amount of time, you can change your strategy without being overwhelmed.
Set goals while considering everything about the moment in which you set them.
This is a good way to think about living in the moment.
What’s Acceptable to You?
We get what we tolerate, and this stands true in the instance of connecting with the present moment. We sometimes seem to forget that we are in charge of our thinking and the way we live on a daily basis. Take charge and don’t accept any less than your desire to be happy.
Most people realize that you cannot find happiness in your thoughts alone. This means external sources and our choices have a lot more to do with our contentment.
The nature of our beings is to want to create a joy from our activities because our innate desires which provide the need to receive from what the universe want to give. It requires a deep thought process to comprehend this but it’s true no doubt.
We tend to accept things as they are thrown at us and the action of acceptance corrupts everything about really knowing how we should feel or what we should accept. It’s no easy task to dodge what life throws at us but it just requires us to practice deflecting the unnecessary extras we often face.
Society makes us think we have to manage our problems but even better is to make the decision to eliminate the ones which are causing harm to you and are unnecessary.
Write Down Everything
If we could go back and see how our decisions affected us, we’d probably be more likely to plan for better decisions.
Get a journal and jot down your thought process. Then write how these thoughts made you feel… Chances are the worst days were a result of your thoughts affecting you negatively.
We underestimate just how significant our reactions to our thoughts are and it’s quite obvious.
An optimistic person will have bad days, but they’ve created the habit of positive thinking regardless of their situation/s and this results in having a better overall day.
A positive and optimistic person likely lives more in the now than someone who is always pondering on the past and worrying about the future. Positivity goes a long way and it benefits you and everyone around you.
If you were you to write down your thoughts and looked back on your best days; the chances of your thoughts not affecting, you or even encouraging you are much more likely.
Have documented material is always a good idea regardless and has helped so many people to improve every aspect of their lives.
Nearly every big/successful inspirational speaker and figure recommends writing everything down because not only is it a good way to look back at your experiences but it’s also a great way to motivate yourself to do even better.
It’s just smarter!
Show Gratitude Towards Your Life
Gratitude is such an important and overlooked thing. We get so caught up in who we want to be, that we aren’t thankful for who we are and where we are. The best thing we can do is appreciate our lives and the fact that we have the ability to live an amazing life.
Often people who complain and are unsatisfied are the ones who cannot find the good in any situation. Who wants to live this way? Apparently, a lot of people do.
Change the habit of complaining and start appreciating and living in the now will not be so difficult. In fact, when you express gratitude, it becomes something that you look forward to every day.
Don’t let the world determine your attitude because it’s up to you to make it better.
External circumstances can heavily influence a negative thought but there’s a way out… it’s called a change of mindset. We all need to condition our minds for what we’d like to experience in life.
Many people condition their minds for negativity and disappointment and that’s exactly what they get as a result.
It’s all in the habit-forming day to day decision that we make to have a positive outlook on life and live in the now.
Always Be Sure You’re In the Moment
You’ll become better at living in the moment when you make it a lifestyle. We get better at something with lots of practice and this is no different.
Make it a priority to be more involved with what’s in front of you at the moment. Put the distractions away (Electronics) and be aware of your surroundings for even short period of time.
We are a distracted society as a whole and this has resulted in less than desirable behavior.
At some point in time we have become self-obsessed and narcissistic which has taken the away the “Now” nearly complete in the lives of many.
You don’t have to do what others do and likely you’ll be one of the few who make the decision to be more about your wellbeing than a quick, superficial fix (It’s normal and we’ve all done it).
So next time you have to snap yourself back into reality, remember that living in the now will benefit you in so many ways.
You’ll See How Much Better Your Life Can Be When You “Live In The Here And Now”!
Don’t live for yesterday and don’t live for tomorrow… live for the here and now.
This is not to say you can’t use things you’ve learned in the past to help you along the way or have future goals in mind to motivate you but living in the now is the best way to live life.
Why be more preoccupied with things you cannot feel or touch rather than seeing the moment for what it is.
Every feeling that you feel and every decision which you make is always done in the moment. So, take some more time to learn how to make the best of it.
You’ll feel more accomplished and you may see things turn around in your life for the better. Be considerate of others and yourself as happiness comes from interactions and the ability to enjoy your environment.
Take these pieces of advice for what they are and apply them to your life if you expect to see things with a new perspective.
Make it a point to put away the devices and spend more time living in the now because after it’s gone you can never get it back.
Your past is done and over with and what you do in the present moment, will determine the conditions of your future.
Stay in the here and take care!
