The art of living here and now

Do you know the power of living here and now, of consciously experiencing the present? Although knowing how to enjoy the present moment seems obvious, there are very few who achieve it, why? Because true presence is more than physically being in a place; It is being connected with our essence, our interiority in perfect harmony with the environment..

Unfortunately, that inner peace is disturbed, sometimes violently, by our thoughts and emotions, which take us away from the present moment, from the here and now.

Stay stuck in the past

There are two ways to stop living in the here and now; and they occur when Our mind spends most of our lives stuck in the past or the future..

It should be noted that we are not condemning the ability to remember or anticipate, since they are very useful faculties for human beings. For example, memory allows us to relive pleasant moments that have already passed and this in itself has nothing wrong.

The problem arises when reliving the past becomes a habit. and it is done to relieve the discomfort we are feeling in the present moment. In these cases, longing for the old days becomes a way to avoid being here and now.

So, if in difficult moments our mind goes to past events, and we long for what we lost and no longer have, instead of reliving pleasant moments, we would be condemning ourselves to regret and sadness.

For example, let’s imagine that we have invested time and money in a personal project that was not successful in the long run. In this case, One way to anchor ourselves in the past is to regret having tried such a thing, that we should have thought better, etc..

However, if we resort to past experience to learn, it is great. ANDThe problem appears when we stay anchored in the blame and we were unable to learn anything from what happened.

Getting stuck in the future

For its part, Worries and expectations are also a way of not living in the here and now. However, the same thing happens with memories. That is, anticipating future events is not bad. per sesince this faculty can help us reduce possible risks and be prepared.

But, if what we do is nothing more than ruminate over and over again about what we fear will happen, We’ll be torturing ourselves with scenarios that haven’t even happened.. Thus, we detach ourselves from what is happening in the present moment, we detach ourselves from reality.

For example, if we are constantly worried about an important work presentation that it could go wrong and we constantly imagine the worst scenarios, The anguish and anxiety experienced will be disproportionate, to the point of hindering our performance.

Another way to get stuck in the future is to be guided by our expectations, where we anticipate events based on our beliefs and desires about something or someone. For example, believing that our partner has the same projects as us without even having discussed it.

In this case, we could create expectations that our partner wants to marry and start a family with us. But, when we arrive at the moment of truth, we realize that their intentions are different. So, When reality does not match our expectations, when that other person does not behave as we wanted, we usually experience frustration and disappointment.

The art of living here and now

As we saw, stopping living in the here and now is a consequence of being trapped in the past and/or the future. Fortunately, we can all let go of these mental ties and enjoy the present moment.

Therefore, below we show some basic keys to learn to live in the here and now.

1. You are much more than the content of your thoughts

Descartes, the famous 17th century French philosopher said, “I think, therefore I am.”through your ideas and thoughts.

And it is that, Although thoughts and ideas are powerful and important, they are still labile and ephemeral. That is, if we defined ourselves by what we think, we would be establishing our identity on quicksand.

So, What we think about ourselves does not define us. But they are just concepts that fail to encompass our true essence. Furthermore, the endless chain of thoughts that constitutes our internal dialogue produces a noise that disconnects us from our essence and the present.

2. You are much more than your emotions

Since Freud presented his theory of the unconscious, and other authors connected the unconscious with emotions, in a mechanistic way, It seems that our will is ineluctably bent by forces outside our consciousness, ephemeral and capricious.

Following this idea, emotions would influence our thinking, and this influences our behavior. Although it is undeniable that emotions are part of our being, they are temporary. and they do not constitute the deepest or real part of our person.

Furthermore, today there are many effective techniques to learn how to correctly manage emotions. Therefore, we are neither predetermined by them, nor are they part of our deepest essence.

Therefore, as Eckhart Tolle, author of The power of Now, “Don’t take your emotions too seriously.”. These are only installed if we identify with them and let them take possession of us.

3. You are much more than what limits you

There are other variables that may be preventing you from connecting with your true essence and being over time. Since we often do not know who we are, we tend to identify with spurious elements. For example, by identifying with our skills or with the role we occupy in society (I’m smart, or I’m stupid), possessions (I’m rich or poor), achievements or titles (I’m an executive, doctor, or criminal).

All these conditions come and go, and are relative, They are nothing more than masks that allow us to see what lies beneath it, our inner universe. To be one with oneself is to be one in time and, therefore, to be in the here and now.

How to connect with the here and now

Thich Nhat Hanh, one of the most important and well-known Zen Buddhist teachers of our time, tells us that:

If we want to connect with the here and now, the best thing we can do is focus our attention on what we are doing. Our mind tends to wander very easily. We have immense potential, but it is wasted. We must simplify and focus on what we do; You will be surprised to see how quickly automatic thoughts disappear when our consciousness is focused on a specific task.

We can also carry out techniques that will help us in our daily lives. Meditation is a very powerful tool that, without a doubt, will bring us enormous benefits to focus and live in the present..

In short, we have talked about the importance of connecting with the present moment and living in peace and harmony, to be truly authentic and connect with our true essence, hidden behind the mask of rush, worries, traumas. He who knows how to live in the present, lives in eternity.

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