15 Jun Living in the Moment

Morning ladies!

I am in Pittsburgh, visiting with my mom, brothers and sister. My mom will come back to Charlotte with us and visit for a few weeks. So, I am not home, when you read this post, but I wanted to share this anyway. How many times do you stop and smell the roses?

‘The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment, wisely and earnestly. -Budda’

What made me think of this topic? I began thinking about this after attending the rock concert last Saturday. If you missed it, you can read my post about My Rock Concert Experience.  How many times do we have our list in mind, what are we planning to do, thinking of the next vacation, when we are on one, not bothering to look at what beauty there is around us.

I noticed, while at the concert, the myriad of people around me taking video, and pictures during the concert. I do realize people want to remember events, but a couple of pictures would do. I thought to myself, how do  you enjoy the moment, the music, look at the facial expressions on the bandmates, if you are worried about getting pictures throughout the show? I enjoyed the show like I was back in 1984, minus the Aqua Net hairspray and big hair.

We noticed the obvious difference with metal detectors when we first came in to the stadium, but i wasn’t going to be using my phone. I kept it tucked into my purse, in case I got lost in the swarm of people waiting for the restroom between breaks. I listened. i enjoyed the playing, the atmosphere and the energy of the crowd. It was so wonderful to just “be there ‘ in the moment.

I do think social media plays a role with not being in the moment. When I first joined Instagram, I was taking pictures of some of my food. And then I thought, “why am I doing this?” Who cares what I am eating? I needed to just enjoy the smells of the delicious food put in front of me, the taste, and the company i was with.  Facebook is all about the past and past memories, not that you don’t want to reminisce, but you don’t want it to become your main area of focus.

My husband used to say, when we were on vacation, i would start talking about the next place we were going to go. I have learned to appreciate the here and now.  I do think that by doing this, I have appreciated things more, able to see joy in things i might not have otherwise.

When I was very sick, at the beginning stages of my disease, I would worry and fear that i would never get to do things i want in life, that I would be in bed, and that my life was just a mere fraction of what it used to be. I thought i would be in severe pain forever. Thinking this way, does not help.  It is a difficult thing to live in the moment, at times, but it can also be life changing.

Try enjoying the scents and scenery around you. I blog outside on our deck and enjoy watching the squirrels and birds outside.  Mindfulness can be practiced, as our natural tendency may be to think about the future, dwell on the past . Try it . I am trying to be more mindful myself and by doing so, it gives me a bit of peace, of less stress.

Do you live in the moment?   Have you ever practiced mindfulness?

Have a wonderful weekend.

Jess xo

Read my Post on Ways to Help Anxiety