Living in the present

In my latest post, I encouraged people to live more in the present. At first, this advice might sound vague and common. Living in the present is a mindset widely discussed in self-help books, religion and psychology. However, I believe most people overlook the idea and fail to grasp the true meaning behind it.

In this post, I’d like to explore the idea deeper. Personally, this is one of the “mindsets” that has helped me the most through life. My hopes are that it can help some of my readers too.

Be in the present

Have you ever sat in a room alone? What did you feel? Probably you felt how time slowed down to a point where it was almost uncomfortable.

Try this for a while. Experience how every instant feels infinite. Congrats, you just learned to “be in the present”. This is our first step towards living in the present. However, the next steps would be more complex.

Remaining immersed in the present requires a huge amount of will power. In order to do so, we must learn to control our attention.

Controlling our attention

Our brain is constantly firing up neurons. These electric impulses are responsible for all the thinking and other processes. The brain cannot be shut down (trust me, you’ll die). However, we can direct our attention to particular areas of its process. When we focus on something we attach to these thought/s.

Attaching to thoughts means becoming emotionally invested in them or allowing them to dominate our attention. It’s like getting caught in a mental loop, where we replay or elaborate on a particular thought over and over.

Depending on your personality, your attention defaults to particular types of thoughts. For example, depressed people focus on worrying thoughts about the past. Conversely, anxious people engage with thoughts about the uncertain future.

Attaching too much with our thoughts can be potentially overwhelming. We commonly call this “over-thinking”. This phenomenon occurs when we disconnect from the present and get lost in thought.

Reconnecting with the present

The only way to escape back to the present is to let go of the thought. This is easier said than done. Depending on the situation / personality this could be very challenging. Take your time.

One trick that I use is to physically move. There’s this saying that “you cannot rule the mind with the mind”. Once your attention is locked into a thought, fighting with more thoughts is counter-productive.

Reconnecting with the present is quite important. We humans tend to get lost in thought quite frequently (at least I do). So, how is this practiced? Can we become better at it?

Yes we can. The most effective (and studied) way of learning to control our attention is called “mindfulness meditation”.

Mindfulness meditation

Really? Meditation? Yes, forget everything you know about meditation and read along.

Mindfulness meditation is the practice of noticing your thoughts and letting them go. As simple as that. No fancy wording, techniques or seminar required.

You can practice meditation in a lot of ways: silence meditation, guided meditation, eyes-opened meditation, dancing meditation, labeling meditation…

The list goes on and on, there are infinite ways to meditate. The only key part is to remain detached from your thoughts. By doing so, you’re essentially training your attention to get along with the “flowing” nature of your brain.

Give this a try for 5-10 minutes. You’ll be surprised at how hard it is to not engage with thoughts.

Our minds are designed to think constantly, making it challenging to simply observe thoughts without getting involved. It’s normal to get “lost in thought” during meditation. In fact, that’s the point of the practice, get lost and go back to the present. With enough practice it will get easier to let thoughts go and therefore live in the present.

But, why the present?

Why focus on the present?

You might wonder why we should prioritize the present over past memories or future plans. Let’s break down why the present moment is uniquely valuable and how past and future perspectives can sometimes mislead us.

The past is an illusion

The past is just a reflection of how the world was like X time ago. It’s a snapshot of a world that no longer exists. In fact, it’s not even an accurate snapshot. We often romanticize our memories or misremember details. Therefore, the past we remember gets further and further away to what one time was real.

Because of this, is not very wise to spend a lot of time focused on past thoughts.

(This might change if we somehow invent time-travel)

The future is a fantasy

The future is a product of our imagination. It’s a naive prediction on how the world would look like. The majority of such predictions are never going to happen. There’s an infinite number of paths your life could take. The universe is just too complex and uncertain for us humans to grasp.

Similarly to worrying about the past, your brain may sometimes fantasize. However, is not very wise to live on those imaginary realities.

The present is all we have

The present is the only answer. This very second is the only moment in time that you will be able to control.

Your present is only yours. Every moment is unique. No one would be able to experience the same as you. Allow yourself to enjoy it.

Sometimes the present could be painful and we might feel tempted to escape. That’s fine, we all do it. However, finding comfort in the past or fantasizing won’t change your present.

Take your time, find the strength and face reality. The only way to create positive memories is to take action now. Time will keep passing and the pain will wear off. This process is slow but highly rewarding. Every second could either get you closer or further to the life you want. Choose wisely and be kind to yourself.

Conclusion and practice

Living in the present is a powerful mindset that can transform your daily experiences. The benefits include less stress, increased happiness and a more fulfilling life. Overall you’ll feel more present in the here and now. Remember, the present moment is your point of power, use it wisely.

Before concluding the post I’d like to share some ways to put these ideas to practice.

First and foremost, meditation. Give it a try, do it for a week. Try different methods, strategies, timings. Find what works for you. Making this a regular practice would bring huge benefits to your life.

Secondly, simply slow down. Life is easier when you don’t rush it. There’s no fun in having everything instantly. Enjoy the process needed to create and accomplish. Feel every second pass by. When you master this, life would feel effortless.

Prevent your mind from dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. Keep your feet in the present.

Thanks for reading.