The beauty of living in the moment

It was a pleasant evening. The sky had just stopped hailing pearls of water to the earth. All shades of grey were scattered around the horizon. Tired I returned from the office and just wanted a bed to rush over. But a soft touch of the cool breeze on my way home erupted an adrenaline rush in me. I thought of going to a park and have a stroll.

The feeling of inhaling fresh air just after the rain was something out of the world. The smell of wet soil, a drop of water on the odd leaves, crystal clear air, are those things which can only be felt, be lived with but hard to describe. Having icing on the cake, I put on my earphones, to enjoy some good music while having a leisure walk.

Just after taking a few steps forth, that too within 15–20 seconds, I thought of selecting one more song to keep it in the queue. I did not want a second of silence in my ears. So I began to look for another song while playing my favorite song in the background. By the time, I selected the second song, the first song was about to finish. Then I scrolled for another song to add into the queue and so on. Till I finished the task of making a list of 15 songs, almost 20–25 minutes were gone.

So what is the point of sharing this? I went for a walk to enjoy the weather and to live those few moments full of fresh air to cheer up my mind, my mood and relax the body from the daily run of stress. I wanted to experience the cool breeze while listening to good music. Instead of enjoying the current music, I kept myself busy in making the next moment better and got stuck in selecting just another song and so on. By the time, the playlist was ready, I had already squandered much of the leisure time I had and meanwhile lost interest in the music itself.

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” ― Mother Theresa

The same thing is done by most of us in our lives. We keep ourselves busy in making our next moment better than the current one; we indulge in the never-ending efforts of making our future better. But at what cost — the ‘Present’. We tinge our ‘today’ gloomy to make a brighter ‘tomorrow’. Some call it a trait of life but I consider it a trap.

Yes indeed, we should be serious, sincere and dedicated towards life and need to be calculative in planning our future. But one thing must also be kept in mind that life is made up of a lots of ‘today’ and not by just try making ‘tomorrows’. Tomorrow will be better only when today is good.

“All that is important is this one moment in movement. Make the moment important, vital, and worth living. Do not let it slip away unnoticed and unused.” ― Martha Graham

My friend Rohan, was from a very humble family living in a very small house. He was deprived of the minimal resources required to lead a decent life. His early 22 years just went in searching for bread and to complete his education. He worked hard to get a good job. After securing a job, he felt to buy a big house and took a home loan well beyond his range, thinking that scarcity of funds would remain for initial years only and later on, life would become easier once salary got increased. As the salary increased, inflation also increased and so as the liabilities. It has been 6 years now, Rohan is still trapped in the same cycle — getting a salary, paying bills, paying EMIs and then calculating how much needed more to catch up with the inflation.

Here Rohan focused on making assets at the very initial stage of his professional life, to increase his net worth, to secure his future. His approach was commendable but the execution wasn’t. He hedged his present in the limited circle of paying heavy EMIs, compromised with his desires. He forgot that living in the moment is as important as looking for the future.

“Your hand can seize today, but not tomorrow; and thoughts of your tomorrow are nothing but desire. Don’t waste this breath, if your heart isn’t crazy, since “the rest of your life” won’t last forever.” ― Omar Khayyám,

We keep ourselves busy working hard all the time, to make money to enjoy life later on. But at what cost — Health. What’s is the use of money later if health isn’t in our hands.

We keep putting our entire income in the savings, insurance policies, mutual funds, shares to get richer. But on what cost — Desires.

Look at the future, have a concern over it but also live in the moment, live the life and focus on the following: -

Plan an excursion annually: Travel is the meditation you can have if you want to take a break and want to rejuvenate yourself. Make a dedicated fund for it and contribute at frequent intervals- weekly/monthly/quarterly or any other interval and make sure you go for a trip every year at least with your loved ones.

Reward yourself frequently: Why do you work. You ain’t here in this world to just pay bills and EMIs. Do something for yourself also. Make a list which gives you pleasure and besides working for the liabilities, assets, responsibilities; also work for yourself and reward yourself.

Keep liabilities limited: Be satisfied with whatever you have and do not go for things beyond control. Being content with whatever you have will keep you happier than chasing what is beyond reach. As if you try reaching out of range, things can be overturned and you may soon find yourself in the trap of greed. This is the biggest secret for being happy and living life to the fullest.

Give time to your loved ones: They are the ones who will be on your side when you need them the most. Always get time for them. They will never let you feel down and will always keep you happy and vibrant.

Make your life happening and do not get indulged too much thinking over the future, be in the present and live in the present. Tomorrow is also going to be a ‘present’, the next day. At the dusk of your life, you will not cherish moments going office, a reprimand from the boss, worrying to keep pace with the liabilities but memories made while enjoying life, bursting into laughter with loved ones, doing silly things with your friends, experiencing new places and so on. The one thing which is in your hand is present, not the past and not the future.

“It’s being here now that’s important. There’s no past and there’s no future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now. We can gain experience from the past, but we can’t relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we don’t know if there is one.” ― George Harrison

Thanks for reading :)