Living in the Moment: Loving the Life You Have

happy teenager

When we think of life, we have the notion that we must take pictures or videos to remember special occasions. But is that living? While this is fine to do, there comes a time when you need to live in the moment. But how can this be done?

With electronics at our fingertips reaching for many of us, it is hard to live in the moment to love the life you have. But it can be done by following some sound advice.

 

Electronics Off

One of the easiest ways to live in the moment is to silence your phone. Say you decide to take a walk. Someone texts you, so your instinct is to respond. If you do, it is not living in the moment. It is simple to think “oh it will just take a second”. But in reality, when you allow yourself to do it once, you will continue to do it over and over. Pretty soon, instead of listening to the bird chirping on your walk, or noticing how the fall leaves crunch under your feet, the only thing you will hear is the sound of your phone going off.

 

Awareness

Next, you need to be aware of where you are. Look around and notice things about your surroundings. Allow all of it to flood in as you have never seen any of it before. Take a few deep breaths and begin asking yourself questions. Do you see certain patterns? How many shades of green can you find? What are others doing around you? How many sounds can you hear? Is there a lot of traffic where you are sitting? Do you notice any children or families nearby? All of these questions will allow you to take stock of the environment around you.

 

Details

Allow yourself to see the details in everything because these things will often make you smile. Maybe you aced the math test that you had been freaking out over. Perhaps your kitten makes the cutest meow ever that instantly brings a smile to your face. Revel in that happiness.

It is very easy to get caught up in daily life. Life goes by way too fast. You may not even remember what you ate last night for supper or who you sat with on the bus last week. This is because we are overpowered by our work and meeting deadlines. This often makes us forget about too many details of the day.

Things may seem little at the moment. But it is important to notice them. If you struggle with this, you may wish to take up journaling. Every night before you turn the lights off, grab your journal and jot down thoughts you have. What did you feel today? What did you smell, see, hear, or taste? Asking yourself these questions will allow you to notice the smallest details that in turn can become huge things about your day. In turn, you will learn to live in the moment and enjoy the life you have.

 

Stop Multitasking

Being productive makes us feel good. But when we are doing so many things that we are not able to enjoy what we are taking part in, there is not the amount of happiness you could have. When you load up on doing tasks, you can not fully concentrate on everyone, and a lot of the happiness goes out the door.

Take this into consideration. Many people will eat while watching TV. When we do this, we are not able to fully focus on the meal. Next time you are eating, ask yourself these questions. How does my food taste? Am I enjoying it? What does it smell like?

We are not saying to never multitask, because there are times when you need to. But there are also times when you need to live in the moment and soak in everything it has to offer.

 

The Past is the Past

Many of us live in the past. We can all admit that it is hard to leave the past behind us.

One thing you should focus on is leaving any resentment behind. If you have negative thoughts, you are stuck in the past. Every time you think about what you resent, you are using lots of energy and you begin to think about it more and more.  Then it slowly begins to eat away at us. By telling yourself to leave the resentment behind, you can focus on things that are important right now.

Be grateful for what your life holds for you right now. Keep your focus on them and not on what you don’t have.

 

Accept Life As It Is

You can not control all aspects of your life. No one can. Therefore, you can accept what has happened, and show all the necessary emotions. If you can not move past it, ask your family or friends for help.