Posts Tagged ‘present moment’

       

So, here I am, feeling harried, feeling stressed, and rushing from one task to another. 

Gotta get ‘em done so I can relax.  Gotta get ‘em done so I can get onto “the good stuff” in life. 

There’s the dishwasher to be unloaded.  There’s laundry waiting to be folded and/or ironed.  There are receipts waiting to be entered into the computer.  There’s so much to do!  And none of it is the joyful part of my day.  I just want to get through them so I can … (fill in the blank here).

Do you know that feeling? 

Do you recognize that scenario?

How often do you find yourself thinking about the next thing that needs to get done WHILE you’re still doing something else?  And just how well is that working to reduce your stress?  To add joy to your day?  For me, if I’m honest about it, that doesn’t really help. 

It’s easy to be on auto-pilot and keep plugging away in the mindset I just described.

Here’s an idea!  Stop doing that. 

No, not the individual tasks (although that IS an option). 

Stop the mental auto-pilot response of doing one thing and thinking about all the others still to be done. 

Try this instead.  Focus in on what you’re doing in the moment. 

Use your senses to really notice what you’re doing.  What your body is doing.  What you’re experiencing. 

Embrace the repetitive movements in your day. 

Give it a try.  Start with one task that has a repetitive element.  Focus on the task and watch your brain slow down.  Fold the laundry and actually notice the texture of the towels, the colors, the fresh scent, how warm they are against your body, and the visually pleasing folded stack that you’re creating. 

Choose to experience the repetition in the task as a chance to mentally slow down and enjoy your life.  Right now.  The moments that are part of your life. 

As you focus on what you are doing right now, take note of how you feel.  Do you feel LESS stress for a change?  Do you feel a sense of satisfaction?  What else? 

Give it a try and let me know what YOU experience. 
~Margie

        

I don’t know about you, but I can get pretty wrapped up in feelings of worry and fear about the future. 

I’m a champ at predicting just how dire things could get.

Oh yeah, I’m good.  But, really, what’s the point? 

Why does my brain want to “go there”? 

Well, mostly it’s trained to protect me.  My brain wants me to know what’s possible and wants me to be prepared for the worst.  (Girl Scouts, unite!) 

Sounds harmless enough.  Sounds like a good preservation plan. 

But what if that part of my brain is working overtime, and on scenarios that just aren’t likely to happen?  Sigh. 

That’s a lot of energy.  A lot of mental energy and a lot of emotional energy.  All wrapped up in the future, which hasn’t even taken place. 

What does that leave, in energy reserves, for right NOW? 

Not so much.  And what have I got to live in?  The future?  Or right now? 

Oh yeah, I’m only here right NOW.  And now.  And now.  That’s all I’ve got. 

That’s all I need.

I’m a fan of Eckhart Tolle and his magnificent works on enlightenment and the power of now (being present as much as possible).  That’s it.  Be here.  Now. 

Sounds fabulous.  It IS fabulous.  But for me, it takes a lot of practice. (Nothin’ wrong with practice.)  And a lot of reminding myself that the future has always taken care of itself (yes, with my help – but certainly not by worrying about it).

So that’s my reminder to myself and to you.  For today, just be here.

Be here, now. 

Look around you and notice what’s what.  In this very moment there isn’t a whole lot to worry about. 

The future will take care of itself if I spend my precious mental and emotional energy living now. 

And what a fabulous “now” I can create.  So can you.  Start … now! 
~Margie