Being One With The Present Moment

Anxiety is a feeling that we as humans have had to face for the longest of time. Worrying, stressing, predicting…These are all things we do (sometimes without even wanting to) with the notion that somehow, the situations that have been mapped out for us, will change as a result of this anxiety. It does not work like that. Humans have unfortunately been programmed to reject uncertainty, and this rejection has in turn made us uncomfortable with the uncertainty of the future and the discomfort of the past.

We predict all sorts of outcomes, and we live in a state of analysis, trying to detail what our next move is going to be, or how we could have acted differently in situations that have already happened. “I'm having so much fun, but I have work tomorrow.” "I wish I started university earlier, I would’ve been working by now.” The one thing that is common between these two individuals expressing how they feel, is the fact that they are living in a state that is distant from what they have control over. They have acknowledged that they love what is happening in the present moment, but the future/past is more of a concern. This is where life takes a turn for the worse. 

In the realities we are faced with, three realms are experienced . The past, the present, and the future. Nothing else. As we know, the past consists of occurrences that have already happened. Events that cannot be changed, and remain in our lives via memory. We then have the future. Occurrences that are destined to happen, but exist via mystery. We do not know what it holds. Finally, the present moment. The realm in which we are always faced with, our day to day lives. 

Due to our minds being very powerful, when we latch onto things that we cannot change, we end up developing outcomes that we start to believe. These outcomes can ruin how we experience life in many ways. I will give the example of someone who has dreamt of proposing to his wife for years, and has finally been faced with the present reality of this proposal. In this example, this same person is potentially being let go from his place of work in two weeks, but he is not sure. As he experiences his proposal, all he can think about is his job. He stresses in his head about all the possible outcomes, and what he can do to keep the job. Bear in mind that his beautiful girlfriend is standing right in front of him, and the moment is passing right in front of his eyes. Without realising it, the moment has passed, and he has barely experienced what he has dreamt of for years now. To make matters worse, he ends up keeping his job, so the stressing was meaningless. 

I use this example because in life, we have to accept that many things are out of our control. Nothing we do can change these future outcomes. The best thing we can do, is simply become one with the present moment, and “live in the now” as many people like to say. We have to embrace the path of life we are on, and trust that our desires will somehow manifest if we put in the work, and become the people we want to be in life. 

The same goes for the past. I will give another example. This next individual is a football player that played in a massive final. She missed a penalty and cost her team seasonal victory. The season break has ended, and it is time for the new season. She is the teams top striker so during pre-season training, sessions are unproductive because she is depressed as a result of her missed penalty. The team has moved on, so have the fans. The present moment presents an abundance of opportunities for her and her team to correct their previous mistakes, but she is not living in that presence. She is consumed by the past. Something that can never be changed…

Both examples highlight how crucial it is to let go of what we cannot control, and thrive in what we are actually faced with. That is where the magic lies. No amount of anxiety makes any difference to anything that has happened, or is going to happen. The only thing that does make a difference, is how we act in the present moment.

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, that is why it is called the present.” - Kung Fu Panda.