As Omar Khayyam said, “Be happy for this moment … this moment is your life.” Not the past or the future be it a day ago or 10 minutes from now, not our dreams or our regrets, not our job or our title or our relationship status or the stamps in our passport (or lack thereof) or the money we’ve acquired or the car we drive. This moment. This is life. And every person can experience a fulfilling life by acknowledging that life is happening right now.
Perhaps it’s the fact that I took a huge, non-socially acceptable leap and quit my job a few months ago and now have more time on my hands than before, but this has never rang so true for me as it does now. To realize that this very moment IS my life is so freeing, lightening and refreshing.
Not all present moments seem so “ideal.” It can be difficult to accept that this moment is life if we are resisting this moment. And yet the reality remains the same — this moment is all there is and life is simply comprised of many of these moments.
I find that my life is so much easier and more joyful now that I allow myself to simply be in this moment and stop thinking I “ought” to be doing something else or putting pressure on myself for what is or isn’t happening.
My mission is to help others improve their experience of life. This means that I need to be here and now and not thinking about the woman who cut me off today or worrying about what the future may hold. I need to create space for each and every sensation, feeling and thought that I experience in this moment. I need to acknowledge it, feel it, accept it and then let it flow through me without judging it or identifying with it. That is the only way I can create space for the next moment and all that it has to offer. We can expand our possibilities this way and this way alone.
Now it is not always easy but it is based on a few very simple principles.
Strive to be 100% present in each and every moment (no matter what it is you are doing)
Accept everything as it happens in the moment (do not resist or label it)
Be open-minded to everything as it occurs (do not be confined by self-limiting beliefs)
Ask “is anything wrong in this very moment?” (not what happened 5 minutes ago or might happen next week)
This is not to say that you cannot set intentions (I prefer this to “goals”) or decide to make changes to your life situation. But until we can create space through acceptance, non-judgment and detachment, we are unable to make decisions based on the reality of the situation and not based out of fear, anxiety or another equally impractical emotion.
It’s not about the “should’s” or the “should not’s” — it is what it is. There is nothing to fear, doubt, stress over, worry about, anxiously await, or figure out. You are already living life — your life — right this moment. And this moment is all we ever have.
Who would you be if you allowed yourself to simply be in the moment and stop thinking you “ought” to be doing something else or putting pressure on yourself for what is or isn’t happening? Join the conversation by leaving a comment.
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