Live In The Moment And Enjoy It
The key to happiness seems to be related to using all our senses and paying attention to the information we receive from our senses: developing full awareness in the now. Numerous studies in psychology have shown that our psychological well-being increases as we become more able to live in the present.
Living in the now requires a constant and progressive effort of our minds, which naturally tends more towards distraction. We always live for the next thing that is going to happen to us and this leads to emotional difficulties.
When our minds constantly worry about the future, fear will take over our present moment, our minds will live anchored in the past, and sadness and despair will take over our days.
People are vulnerable when they constantly think about the past and future, and they are strong when they experience each day without fear. The past and the future exist only in our thoughts; so the real reality lies in the present.
Living in the now modifies our brain
dr. Andrew Newberg, a neuroscientist at Thomas Jefferson University, and Mark Robert Waldman, an expert in communications, argue that living in the now can change our brain. The word ‘present’ has the power to influence the regulation of physical and emotional tension.
When we focus purely on current tasks, we can change the way our brain works. By focusing on our lives in this way, we strengthen cognitive reasoning, which contributes to the strengthening of areas in the frontal lobes.
Using positive words that focus on what we are doing activates the so-called motivation centers in our brain and prompts them to act. In the extreme opposite, when we use words that remind us of our past or anticipate what we are going to do, certain neurochemicals like cortisol can contribute to stress and anxiety.
When we use negative words to remember our past, the brain’s so-called fear center, the amygdala, is activated. When these words change in mind, fear is activated, even though the situations causing it are not present in the present.
People are programmed to worry. It is part of our primitive brain that protects us from dangerous situations. What was basically essential to our survival some 10,000 years ago now suffers from overuse that only leads us to feel anxious about things we can’t really do anything with because they don’t exist yet and may never exist.
We can only experience happiness in the present moment
We may fantasize that one day we will be happy or remember times when we were happy, but the truth is that we can only be truly happy in the moment we are experiencing that moment. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t set goals for ourselves or organize our lives, but it doesn’t make us procrastinators when we’re overwhelmed by the reality around us, enjoying it or changing it.
By accepting things as they are, without judging them, and by focusing on them in our minds in the present moment, we can control wandering thoughts that keep us from full consciousness. If we cannot avoid their appearance, we must at least let them pass when they appear, refusing to cling to them.
Remembering negative circumstances from the past reduces our enthusiasm, our optimism and thus makes it more difficult for us in the present moment and limits our potential and disperses our energy. Even the memories of positive experiences, if they are recurring, affect our enjoyment of the present moment, as they naturally bring with them a sense of nostalgia, that idea that something was better in a bygone era.
The present is the only place where we can influence our reality and find possibilities and opportunities. The first step to living in the now is to focus your attention on actions such as your breathing. Only through this conscious effort will our senses open.
Images Courtesy of Claudia Dinora
