Lessons on Living in the Moment
To be in the now, you must let go of the overwhelming feelings that hold you in the past and keep you from moving into your desired future. ~~ R L Bray, No Open Wounds
Living in the moment is a topic that is near and dear to my heart — literally. After all, surviving two heart attacks made me realize that every moment really could be my last, so I’d best enjoy each and every one of them. It’s a real wakeup call to start living in the now instead of wasting time dwelling on a past that can’t be changed. The only thing that I can change now is how I remember and react to those memories. And, for the most part I do fairly well at leaving them where they belong.
But, there are days when the past looms large, and I’d rather crawl into a corner and nurse my hurts instead of getting on with the business of living and enjoying life. And as you can no doubt see from the huge gaps in posting recently — there’ve been more than of few of those days in the past few weeks.
One thing I’ve learned about living moment to moment though is to always be paying attention to things that show up. And when they show up in multiples, you better believe I sit up and take notice. Once or twice might be cause for a “hmm, I best have a think about that” but when four — count ‘em, four — posts on living in the moment cross my path on the same day, I really think the Universe is tryin’ to tell me something. (“Get the lead out and get back to doing what you’re meant to be doing” comes to mind.) Add to those the book I’m reading which has as one of its main premises the theory that you can’t be fully present in the now if you still have hurts and wounds from the past that need dealing with, and you have a pretty convincing club for the Universe to whack little ol’ Lena on the head with!
It was John Lusher’s post Have We Forgotten How To Be In The Moment? that got me thinking along this track early this morning. He offers up some great suggestions on how to be more present in the moment. And the comments of Mr. Business Golf on living for the nanosecond and people who bring their cell phones onto the golf course are priceless. (Don’t even get me started on people who can’t unplug long enough to play a round of golf.)
Amber at Epic Self has some really great awakening exercises for living in the now that she gleaned from reading Eckhart Tolle’s books as well as a cool list of 11 reasons to live in the now. This was my first visit to her blog, and I have to tell ya, she’s got some great stuff there.
There’s a great post at Positively Present, in which Dani shares a poem she wrote when she was thirteen and an analysis of what it means to her now. I’m almost tempted to dig out my own high school poetry and see just how warped I was at thirteen. :)
One of the best reasons I’ve found for living in the moment comes from a quote by James Joyce: “I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day.” If we want our tomorrows to be something other than a repeat of today, we have to make the changes that we hope tomorrow will bring in this moment, here and now. If that’s not a good reason to not dwell on the past or worry about the future, I don’t know what is.
Living in the moment, for me, has a lot to do with feeding my inner child. I love to stop and watch the ducks in the park, and I love to sit on the swings and contemplate the flow of life. I notice things like how blue the sky is and how green the leaves and the grass are. In “The Path to Personal Growth” I wrote: “Side paths are meant to be explored, roses are meant to be smelled, and butterflies exist to be marvelled at. Live your life to the fullest, do the things you love, and enjoy every minute of it.”
And thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for sharing this moment with me. :)
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Tagged with: inner child • letting go • living in the moment • moving forward • Personal Growth
Filed under: Personal Growth
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Helen! Thanks so much for the shout out. You’ve got a great blog as well. I look forward to digging through your articles. Mindfulness and present living is my primary focus in life. I’ve found it’s the only way to be truly happy everyday no matter your circumstances. I really appreciate your support :)
Helena- I enjoyed your post. I too am focusing on being present and plugging into the moment. I tend to stay in my head a lot and I realize I am not always focusing on the people around me. Staying present ensures you will not miss those messages that come into your life and I am enjoying the challenge of putting these philosophies into practice in everyday life.