How to Live in the Moment and Stop Worrying About the Past or Future

How to Live in the Moment and Stop Worrying About the Past or Future

  

  • hrutuja
    HRUTUJA PATKAR
    182 pts
    Rising Star


    Do You Happen To Forget Living In The Moment? The Below Mentioned Points Will Help You With That.

    “Just live in the moment! Stop overthinking about the future or the past. The present is what you have.”

    Or the famous quote,

    “Yesterday is HISTORY, tomorrow is a MYSTERY. But today is a gift; that is why it is called the PRESENT.”

    I am a hundred percent sure that you are all familiar with the above lines. Or must have heard from people at some point of yourself. This might either be directed to you or to others. But this must have been said in your presence.

    If not exactly this, then you must have heard something similar like;

    “Be Present in the present. You have this moment only. Do not let it slip away.”

    Everything and anything in between these.

    The gist of all these sentences (or more likely statements) just indicates one thing in particular. That it is important to live in the present.

    This is one of the most common and important things we hear people say in general. They also do not fail to emphasize the importance of living in the moment.

    But what do they exactly mean by these statements of theirs?

    What do you mean by living in the moment?

    Living in the moment, simply put, is to be mentally, physically, and emotionally present in the current moment or time. You need to be invested in the current moment by all means.

    One must be focused and concentrated in the present. And it also means that one must not think too much about future worries and/or dwell on what happened in the past. One must enjoy the current moment to their fullest.

    It is not just a term or a catchphrase. At least not anymore with our changing lifestyles and predicament. This is a psychologically backed-up lifestyle for almost all of us. Especially those who struggle with anxiety and stress; also struggles to find peace. This is a highly recommended way of living by psychologists.

    Importance Of Being Present In The Moment

    The reason we hear this phrase more and more with each passing time is because we have more or less forgotten to be in the moment. We have been way too caught up in our worries for everything related to life that we tend to forget that the present as well exists.

    Living in the moment is believed to be the key to live a healthy and happy life. It helps cope with anxiety and stress, and also to keep yourself grounded with the aspects of your life and not get carried away by your worries. Living in the moment helps to deal with pain more effectively and easily as well.

    The reduction in stress and anxiety plays an overall positive impact on our health and improves the ability to cope with negative feelings and/or negativity in our lives. This is all because of living in the moment.

    Our lives have just changed like that. It has become too fast-paced and hard to pass each day by. There is so much for us to achieve and so little time for us to enjoy what we have, really. When we fail to appreciate the happiness or even the little things that we possess in our lives, it gives rise to anxiety and unhappiness at a completely different level.

    Not only this but when we are unable to enjoy our present moments and get too caught up in the future worries or thinking about our past, then you are drained mentally as well. You will feel exhausted, and you will be out of touch with yourself too.

    You won’t be able to do much, even physically. You will notice that productivity also decreases when you are that exhausted and also lose so many opportunities that you can make progress with. So it is important to live in the present.

    Difficulty To Live In The Moment

    As per people, that the cure to this problem is living in the moment. However, it is way easier said than done. There are hundreds or even thousands of us to whom these sentences don't even make sense. Most of us have turned into worrywarts that it is impossible to even think of a possibility to live in the moment.

    It is so difficult because we have been trained (in a way) or raised to think about our future. We have even been encouraged to dwell on our past indirectly since we have been seeing people do this often. Everything and anything around us has the potential to trigger us on the past dwelling or future worries in any way it can.

    On top of it, our ever overthinking and wandering minds also do not help in making us stop worrying and fretting instead of living in the moment.

    What we really need is to have a balance of our past, present, and future. Living in the moment alone cannot help you achieve anything in your life. We need to learn from our past mistakes and to plan for the future as well. Just focused and stuck on one thing is never going to be helpful. It is as said, too much of anything is not good for us. And that applies here as well.

    Balancing your thoughts is the key factor in mindfulness and offering yourself a healthy and happy life. Thinking too much over anything can only lead to negative effects on your health and life. Balance is actually what we all need—balance of our past, future, and present.

    Even Though it is hard to find a balance and to know it, you will feel it when you worry less and will lead a happy and healthy life. And of course, you will majorly live in the present moments of your life.

    How to live in the moment

    So, how exactly can we achieve this? What are the ways that we can make ourselves live in the moment? And how can we make it possible for us? The following points can be helpful for you to achieve this. Read below to find out.

    Acceptance

    It is always better to accept your past instead of brooding over it or mending it. If you do not let go, then you get stuck with it. And it is not good for your well-being. Even still, water gets rotten with time.

    What has passed is in the past now? You cannot have it back or change it, even if you can exchange anything in return for it. It is very rare that people get second chances to make things right. If you can change it, then do anything in your power to do it. But most probably you won’t be able to do it. And when you can’t change the past, then it is always better to accept what has gone.

    There is no use dwelling or brooding over the past. So try not to be sad more than it is necessary. The only thing you can do is to gain control over your thinking and emotions. You cannot change your circumstances, but you can change the way you take them. You can change your attitude and perspective for it. And that is the only way you can stop yourself from worrying over it.

    Stay Healthy

    Worrying always brings unwanted stress and anxiety. Too much of it can also bring depression along. Stress and anxiety can be a reason for many physical diseases. It can cause blood pressure to rise, it releases hormones that can cause obesity, and moreover, it is a major reason for heart attack and cardiac arrest. No need to emphasize how much they can be dangerous to our lives.

    Besides, it also can lead to exhaustion as you are tiring yourself with unnecessary worries. Also, it will eventually lead to less productivity on your part as you will be spending more of your time worrying. This will, in turn, increase your anxiety as your output is not up to your mark. So this is a vicious circle.

    And as per studies, it is concluded that living at the moment can improve your well-being immensely. Both physically and mentally.

    Stay Positive

    The only thing that can fight negativity is positivity. So it will be beneficial for you to stay positive. Keep a smile on your face; it helps to stay positive. Staying positive will help you gain a better perspective on everything that happens with you. You are going to train your mind to see the good in every situation. It will help you guide yourself in the long run and always be hopeful.

    Not only that, but you also spread positivity to others in your vicinity. People are going to be attracted to your positive energy and will be pleased to be in your contact.

    Improving Relationship

    If you want to walk fast, then walk alone. But if you want to walk longer, then walk together with others.

    This is a famous saying. It puts emphasis on the importance of having relationships in better shape with your loved ones. When you are stressed or distressed, or anxious, the people around you have a hard time. And besides, if you have been struggling with any of your relationships, then it is going to add to your stress and anxiety. And of course, it is going to lead to damage to your well-being.

    Also, it is always a struggle with a person who always is worrying about something. They unconsciously bring others down as well. So naturally, they tend to be ignored by others as well. People like to be with the person who likes to live in the moment.

    Living in the moment not only brings happiness but also helps you have a healthy and happy relationship with others.

    Improved Self-Control

    I have seen people in the state of them worrying way too much. When that happens, they often went too far with the scenarios their mind displays them due to the state of them worrying. It is more than practical or realistic to what scenarios they come up with.

    They always start panicking when their imagination crosses limits. They also lose the ability to make proper decisions regarding the things that made them worry in the first place. And it makes them regret even taking the decision.

    When you live in the moment, you tend to be more calm and have improved self-control on your emotions. This will help you keep your control over the decision-making process you need to have.

    Meditation

    It is one of the most useful ways to stop worrying. Meditation will bring so much peace to you that it will be a piece of cake with time to not worry and start living in the moment.

    You do not only have the option to do breathing exercises in the name of meditation, even though it is the most useful one of them. Meditation can be anything that can bring you joy and peace. You can go for a walk, read a book, go swimming, do knitting or sewing, etc. Basically, anything to make you happier and help you live in the moment.

    Change

    Change is an inevitable part of your life. No one can escape that reality. So it is better to change when their changes occurring in your life. Also, it will be better to accept the changes as soon as possible. Swimming is easier when you swim with the flow and harder when you flow against the currents, right? It applies to life as well. The faster you accept change, the better it will be. It will be a lot easier to live in the moment when you do so.

    Conclusion

    The mind can be very harmful when it starts to overthink and make up scenarios in our heads that might never happen. But it manages to make us stress and worry about it, nonetheless. In order to live in the moment, it is very much essential to gain control of our minds and prevent it from happening. Also, you need to have control over the thoughts your brain produces and not let the brain control you. That will be the key to live in the moment.


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