One of the ways to combat immobilization; However small, it is learning to live in the present moment. Living in the present moment, getting in touch with your now constitutes the heart of a positive life. If you think about it, you will realize that there really is no other time you can live. Now is all there is; and the future, is simply another present moment to be lived when it arrives. One thing is for sure; that you can't live it, until it really appears. The problem lies in the fact that we live in a culture that detracts from the present, the now. Save for the future! Think of the consequences! Think in the morning! Get ready for retirement!
Avoiding the present moment is almost a disease in our culture, and we are continually conditioned to sacrifice the present for the future. If we take this attitude to its logical conclusions; we will realize that it is not only about avoiding enjoyment now, but about forever avoiding happiness. When the future comes, it becomes present and we must use it to prepare the future. Happiness is something that happens in the morning; that is, something elusive, fallacious. The disease of avoiding the present moment takes many forms. Here are four typical examples of evasive behavior:
Mrs. Sally Forth, decides to go to the forest to breathe fresh air, enjoy nature and get in touch with her present moments. As you walk through the forest, let your mind wander and focus on all the things you should be doing at home. The children, the purchase, the house, the bills to be paid, will everything be fine? Then, at other times, your mind projects to all the things you will have to do, when you leave the forest. The present was lost, occupied by past and future events; and the lovely and rare occasion to enjoy a present moment in contact with nature, has been lost.
Mrs. Sandy Shore goes to the islands to enjoy a vacation; and he spends his time tanning in the sun, not for the pleasure of feeling the sun's rays on his body, but anticipating what his friends will say when he returns home with a beautiful tan . Your mind is focused on the future; and when that future moment arrives, she will feel unable to be back on the beach sunbathing.
You can enjoy the present moment beautifully; that elusive time that is always with you, if you give yourself completely to him, if you "get lost" in him. Absorb everything that the present moment gives you; and disconnect, from the past that no longer exists and from the future that will come in time. Hold on to the present moment, as if it were the only one you have. And he thinks that remembering, wishing, waiting, regretting and repenting are the most usual and most dangerous tactics to avoid the present.
Often, the evasion of the present leads to an idealization of the future. In the future; at some wonderful moment in the future, life will change, everything will be ordered and you will find happiness. When that important moment comes and what you expect happens - your graduation from college or university, marriage, a child, a promotion - then life will begin in earnest. And most likely, when that time comes and the expected event occurs, you will have great disappointment. It can never be what you expected.
Of course, when something that happens to you is not up to your expectations, you can get rid of the depression that this causes you starting to idealize again. Do not let this vicious circle become a lifestyle for you. Interrupt it now and strategically with something that fills you; and make you feel fulfilled, in the present-moment.
Years ago; In 1903, Henry James gave these tips in his novel "The Ambassadors:"
Live all you can; Not doing it is a mistake. It doesn't matter much what you do, as long as you have your life. If you have not had that, what have you had? ... ... The appropriate moment is any moment, that one is still lucky to have ... Live!
If you look back; What has been your life, as Ivan Ilich did in Tolstoy's novel, you will discover that it is very rare that you regret or repent for something you have done. It's what you haven't done, what will torment you. That is, the message is very clear. Do it !! Do things! Value the present moment. Hold on to every moment of your life and taste it. Give importance, value your present moments. Think that if you waste them with self-frustrating attitudes, you will have lost them forever. The people who know how to catch that present moment on the flight and take full advantage of it, "maximize it", are the people who have chosen to live a free, efficient, effective and full life. And that is a choice that each and every one of us can make.
