Living in the moment, a widely spoken mantra, more appropriately, a pithy observation. The premise for that statement lies in the consequential outbursts of distractions surrounding us, arising from the advancements in the fields of communication and the decline in the primordial foundation of living, namely, the mindfulness, or rather awareness of our surroundings.
This imbalance is an expected byproduct of a system that produces more than one can sanely consume, while at the same time under-prioritizes the essential fields of life, such as those that inculcate awareness, mindfulness, contribution and more. The focus is more on thoughtlessly producing and consuming than on the skill of disciplined learning, understanding, consideration and foresight, which would naturally result in truly beneficial creations without any sort of consequential damage to either beings, animals or environments, physically or in any other form.
A multitude of fields thus arising out of their basis which find root in the haphazard flow of the system become solely dependent on the prerequisite of needing, being discontent, feeling lacking, experiencing inconvenience. While the fields of life that focus on being present in the moment, being thoughtful, mindful of your purpose, being aware of your thoughts and actions, all of which bear strong roots in our self, being content, independent of the external circumstances, naturally become the stark opposite or arch rival of the former, directly undermining the existence of those fields. A content citizen then becomes a natural enemy of the nation, and thus the economic system.
Back to the aphorism, ‘living in the moment’. Yes you have to live in the moment, but it isn’t as simple as it is expressed to be. Your presence in the moment can either be an act of letting go, pure indulgence, conveniences and comforts of the present world or rather an objective presence with the focus on the task at hand, doing what is truly want to, all while disconnecting from the other aspects of the world.
But any moment, is an assimilation of three distinct and interdependent periods in time, namely, a fleeting present, which is the soon-to-be past and the place where the moment is given birth to with its purpose is defined, which is then followed by the current moment which is the temporal and fleeting present.
This currentness is the process of what you are doing, be it, trying to complete a task or achieve something. All of this then consequentially transforms into the future as you desire it to be.
Then, living in the moment isn’t just living in the present instance. That only makes it a vague, open and a rather paradoxical suggestion. You cannot just focus on the present, when in a significant way your goal, dream or vision, which is the future you, influences the present moment and what you do in that moment.
You can only live the moment when you are constantly and consciously aware of the place in the future where you want to be. Because a combination of past life, present experience, future events forms the present you .
So, remember the past, focus on the present and at the same time be mindful of the future. Because the future will tell you how much you need to put in the present, it will provide you with cues, to look out for, guidelines to follow to reach where you want to be.
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