“Living in The Moment” Is Bullshit

Rick Glenn
Jul 23, 2017 · 2 min read

You’ve seen them.

They’re everywhere.

Books, magazines, blogs, Instagram. Pictures of serene white people on beaches or cliffs, piles of precariously balanced stones with a calming filter extorting you to “Live In The Moment” or “Be. Here. Now.” or some other aspirationally shaming phrase.

Maybe you’ve tried it – living in the moment, being here now.

Whatever you call it, it is part of the zeitgeist in a way like never before and like a lot of other pop culture spirituality and psychology, it is bullshit.

“Living in the moment” is scientifically impossible.

The universe and things in it move at speeds incomprehensible to human senses – the rotational velocity of our planet, the speed of sound and the speed of light, etc.

Comparatively, human nerve impulses move at the slow speed of 268 miles per hour.

By the time our senses and brain have absorbed, perceived and processed what is happening around us, those things have already happened.

We perpetually live in the past as defined by the bodies we have evolved in and inhabit as human beings.

The best thing we have is awareness of what has happened and our ability to recognize patterns of events and information that may be, to a degree, predictive of “future” events

This isn’t meant to bash meditation or mindfulness or similiar practices.

People have been engaging in these activities for thousands of years and science has recently proven the benefits of such practices.

Rather this is just a reminder to not expect that if you meditate once or for 5 minutes a day for a week you will become a Zen master and have all the answers to life’s biggest questions.

Pick a method or practice. Try it for 30 days. If it improves your life, stick with it and se where it takes you. If, on the other hand, you don’t see improvement, pick another and try again.

Be patient and determined and something may happen.

Be aware.

Be mindful.

Be present.

Be whatever you need to be.

Just don’t fall into the trap of thinking you can live in the moment.

$.02

Rick Glenn

Written by

www.hismadrealm.com Twitter/Instagram = @hismadrealm

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade