Living in the present

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Many people, especially those who are walking a spiritual path, will tell you that it is important to live in the present. To put your total focus in this very moment ~ independent  of what you are doing this very moment. Whether you are meditating or doing the dishes doesn’t matter ~ whatever it is you are doing, do it with all of your being...

For me, no matter how hard I try, I never quite manage to do it. To be ‘in the now’. To focus only on what I am actually doing right then and there.
More often than not I find my mind wanders... To the shopping I still need to do. Trying to remember when the last time was I did this thing or the other. To an appointment I have the day after tomorrow.
And pretty soon whatever I am doing goes sort of on an automatic pilot.

I am certain I am not the only one who is doing this ~ and in all reality, what is the harm in it?

The thing is though, that when we are lost in memories ~ good or bad ~ of the past, we do not experience what is happening right now. In a sense, any time we spend pondering things that have already happened, we loose out on the experiences we could have right now.

The same is true for worrying about things yet to come ~ things that may be (or are) in our future.

If we look at our past and future ~ there is nothing we can do about it now.
The past has happened already, and while it has made us into the person we are this very moment, the only thing we can still change about it is our perspective on it ~ how we look at what happened knowing what we know now. Knowing the outcome of events that happened way back when...
The future, on the other hand, isn’t here yet. Whatever might happen cannot be influenced right now. If we need any preparation for a specific event in our future ~ that we can do now; with all of our focus!

The only moment we can affect is now. The only time we can change what is actually happening in our lives is the present.

And that is why it is so important to focus on living in the present. To be in the now.
This is the only moment in which we can not only influence what is happening to us, it is also through living in the present that we can truly experience live as it is happening.
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