Living in the Moment

If you want to be truly happy in life, learning to live in the moment is important. However, it is kind of an ambigous phrase, “living in the moment”.  So, what does it mean to live in the moment and why is it so important? 

What is living in the moment?

Living in the moment means not worrying about or dwelling in the past or the future. 

We so often waste our time reliving things from our past. It could be mistakes that we’ve made, or things that have hurt us – our brains seem hardwired to stay in the past. The trouble is, you can’t change the past, you can only learn from it. 

Similarly, you could be spending a lot of your time focusing on the future. You might worry about things that could happen, or you may wish time away to get to a specific milestone. 

If you tend to live more in the past or future, it’s going to prevent you from enjoying the present. 

Being present means you are able to better control your thoughts and actions. This in turn means you’ll be able to break bad habits. Any potential problems can also be identified quickly, and you’ll be in a better position to find solutions. 

When you live in the moment, your relationships also improve. Often, we take our family, friends, and spouses for granted because we are too focused on technology or stuck living in the past or in wishful thinking. When you start to live in the moment, you connect more with those around you. You’ll appreciate the time you are spending with your loved ones. 

So, what are the downsides?

Is living in the moment always a good thing?

While living in the moment can help to improve your wellbeing, it isn’t always a good thing. 

If you live too much within the moment, you may start to slack off on your responsibilities. Ignoring your problems won’t make them go away. So, it’s important to find the right balance between living in the moment and still taking care of your responsibilities. 

Living in the here and now isn’t about not caring about anything negative at all. It is about acknowledging your issues and dealing with them in a healthier way. 

Teaching the mind to let go of the things you cannot change, and to work on the things you can, is important. It’s easy to take living in the moment too far so try and find a healthy balance between the two. 

So, when you hear the term “living in the moment”, it refers to simply being fully present in the here and now. You aren’t distracted with negative or worrying thoughts. Instead, you notice everything around you and how it makes you feel. 

Now that you know the benefits living in the moment provides, the question is how do you do it? Download 23 Ways to Integrate Mindfulness into Your Life to help you cultivate greater receptivity to living in the moment.