Living in the Moment

Living in the moment requires us to let go of control.  It means letting go of our limiting beliefs, conditioning, fears, hopes and dreams that we use as a security blanket to navigate through life. The majority of people are either thinking about something that already happened or what will happen as opposed to being in the present moment. We exist under the illusion, that in order to maintain control we must always be planning for the future or analyzing the conversations and interactions we have had in the past.  We play out mock scenarios about the future. It puts us in a state of surviving the present moment in order to reach a happier, better place.  The striving we do to get “there” becomes the “now” we are living, thus leaving us in a place of never arriving.  As a society, many of us are going through life as if we are sleepwalking.  It is as if we are unconscious. We imagine that our real life is something to be attained beyond our daily experience. 

The only thing that truly gets us to a new place of existence is by being in the present moment. Making a choice to live in the moment gives us the opportunity to live a life that is authentic.  It gives us the opportunity to create our external lives as an expression of who we truly are from the inside. Living in the moment means to move through life in a conscious manner – to be present.   Consciousness literally means, “Awareness of something for what it is; awareness of one’s own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc.”  Being conscious in the present moment allows us to know ourselves.

 Living in the moment allows our self-limiting beliefs, pretenses and inner blocks to gradually fall away.  We begin to realize we can live our lives with the power to make our choices in a conscious more voluntary way, as opposed to living our lives by default.  We begin to experience life more as an unfolding as we learn the skills of staying open, moment by moment.  We stop hiding and start taking responsibility for ourselves.

It seems at first to be quite a challenge to be watchful and conscious of ourselves in the moment.  The first thing we realize is how much we DON’T live in the moment.  When listening to another we will notice how our mind is engaged in our own inner dialogue.  Being conscious in the moment is a process that takes time to develop.  We can start by practicing the art of paying attention (being the watcher). 

One of the easiest ways to bring yourself into the present moment is to bring your focus to your breathing.  Take deep belly breaths and exhale; feel the sensations in your body. Pay attention to simple things that you do every day like, driving your car, smelling and really tasting the food you eat.  Let go of where you need to be next and be right where you are.  What if this moment was your last moment on earth?  Would you choose to experience it to the very fullest?  Would you feel the sunshine on your face?  Would you linger in the smell of your child’s hair or embrace the fact that your legs are carrying you across the room? 

It is simple in its application and yet can be a struggle to prevent our mind from drifting.   As we re-connect with our ability to stay in the present moment we begin to remember our own innate sense of knowing, “That which we know”.  We begin to realize that we can trust ourselves.  We are born with the ability to be in the moment and need only to look at a small child to see how natural it is for them.  Pay attention to how a child is caught up in “being”, as opposed to “doing”.  We need to go about our lives with a conscious awareness of how we are “being” instead of focusing on what we are “doing” by being present in our daily experiences. Being present in our daily experiences is what takes us from A to Z.  There are no shortcuts in life and as we learn the art of living in the moment, we awaken to the fact that we wouldn’t have it any other way.  It is life at its fullest.  As we make friends with ourselves, it is important to be kind, accepting and most of all forgiving of ourselves.  Only through awareness and acceptance can we begin the journey of letting go of the things that hold us back from embracing and experiencing our life to the fullest.