Living in the Present

The nature of time still eludes scientists. To the extent that we use it to measure the sequence of events in succession (past, present, and future) helps us in innumerable ways. But the map is not the territory. Whatever time is, it’s not the same thing as how we think of it or use it. Another way of putting this — time, as we think of it, is a human construct. 

For most of us, the past is a time we can look back to and remember. The present is the time we are currently experiencing. The future is this time out there, whether near or far, for which we may plan or obsess. But the past doesn’t exist. It’s not there. It’s not something that is happening to you now. Whatever happened, happened. It’s gone. Neither does the future exist. Ever. When “it” happens, it’s the present.

What is all of this mind-boggling ranting about?

All we have is this moment. Every single person who lives a life of happiness and contentment has, at the very least, this one thing in common — they fathom this truth and practice living it.

To regret the past is to live as if the past is real and doing something to you now (which it is not). To be anxious about the future is to live as if the future is real and something you can control (which it is not). Both cause misery and suffering because of ideas that aren’t even real.

Simply being in the present is the only option for a happy, content life. When you are aware that all you have and all there is is this moment (right here, right now), you are free. Free to choose, free to be grateful, free to be alive.