For years and years, I’ve heard and read from many, many experts and life teachers – be in the present. Living in the now is the path to reducing your fears and living life fully.
While this idea makes sense to me, I’ve not yet mastered it. Not even close, to be honest!
I think for me, and maybe for many others, this is a lifetime’s work.
As I approached 60, I noticed that my fears, anxieties, and worries were about what might happen in the future.
When I shifted my attention to the present moment, the now, the reality of my life, I realized that I was experiencing some of the happiest times of my life.
And in those times when I was in the present moment, I didn’t have the worries, anxieties, and fears. That felt so much better!
So during this time of my life, my motivation for living in the moment has strengthened. I see that the more I do this, the more my misery dissolves and the happier I am. And who doesn’t want less misery and more happiness.
As author Stephen Pollan said in a recent issue of AARP’s magazine, “Focus on making today a good day. One of the best ways of eliminating fear is to stay in today. Tomorrow will wait for you.”
He was speaking about facing a crisis and it’s good advice for those of us facing our 60’s.
How can you make today a good day and leave tomorrow for tomorrow?
Please share your thoughts by clicking on Comments, scrolling down to the form, and writing away.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
One way is to get up in the morning and tell yourself that it’s going to be a wonderful day. I work with a woman who wakes up with the thought: what’s going to happen today to mess up my day? She is always having ‘bad luck’. She swears she doesn’t think about it, but I know from working with her what her attitude is: she lives by Murphy’s Law. And then she can’t understand why she’s always getting speeding tickets, she has problems with her car, her debit card won’t work, and on and on.
I used to be her, and I’m so glad I’m not now. Every day is a good day, no matter what happens. I think that the bad things that happen can be turned around as soon as we learn to express gratitude for not only the good things, but also the bad things. Yesterday is done; we can’t change what happened. Tomorrow isn’t here yet, and there are a lot of things we can’t control, but we can control how we react to situations and how we act in those same situations, good and bad.
There are still times I find myself sinking into the pity pot, but I have learned to allow myself a specific amount of time to wallow; then it’s time to get back to living my life.
This is a good point.
A little over four months ago, I came to some massive realizations about my life, about where I was and where I needed to go. Trying to implement those changes has proven to be … difficult. Its almost amazing how many people in my life want me to fail at this, to just be the ‘old me’ again — these people are draining my joy and my hope for a future that makes sense to me. So, I see it now as a continual fight against those that want me to fall back into who I was before and the me who wants and embraces the idea of change.
And sometimes, knowing how much I need to do, well, its overwhelming — especially because I feel so alone. I think I’ll try this. Focusing on today, on just what I can accomplish before I go to sleep tonight. I have the greater vision, plans are in the works, but I certainly don’t need to obsess about it every single day or let those who want me to fail succeed. Today, I’ll focus on enjoying the moments of my day. On being happy in the now and finding ways to bring a bit of what I want to accomplish into the moments of my day.
Hi, Indigo! Welcome! Nice to have you commenting here.
Good for you for realizing you wanted something different with your life. It’s not uncommon, of course, for people in our lives to feel threatened by our changes and want us to be our same old selves. As you’ve noticed, fighting them doesn’t work. Do you have one or two allies, people who do support your new vision? If so, I’d suggest you focus on them.
Enjoyng the moments of your day is a great strategy. As is focusing on small steps that take you in the direction of your vision. Step by step, day by day, you can get there.
If you’d like to share more about what your vision & how you’re doing, please do. This is one place for you to get support.