Being present is one of the keys to happiness

To start, I’m 15 and I’m still learning English, thank you for your patience on my grammar issues :D

Today, I was spending time with my mother and we were seeing our last trip photos. I felt the same nostalgia you feel when you remember your last trips. That awesome thrill that was in my mind again.

After, I asked myself: Why are we so happy when we travel? I thought a lot about and I made a conclusion: I was in the present.

Less future. Less past. More present.

Remember your last travel. About what things you did there, what you ate, what people you were with did, everything.

All of those situations have one thing in common. You were not thinking what you probably going to do after that activity. You were only worried about your full enjoyment of that place.

I remember when I went to New York. It was magical. And not because I was making a personal dream coming true but because I was feeling what that place was offering me. Appreciating each part. All the buildings, the Central Park, Times Square, all the places which I only had seen in movies before. My lunch at Burger Joint. The top of the worl….ops…. Empire State.

I was fully on the present. I was feeling a sense of fulfillment. I was happy.

Being overtasking is good when you manage your time and energy well

This month is my school’s vacation. I’m the one there who is not going to have vacations. I’ve enrolled in three “courses” this July. One about Physics at a university called Unicamp, here in Brazil, one about leadership and other at my school, to prepare myself for the Brazilian Physics Olympiad.

In the beginning of this month I was so excited about these experiences. Although, I was not feeling happy. Every time, there was a worry thought in my mind. I didn’t know Optics(a Physics subject), and the Physics course theme was Quantum Optics. I’m not a fluent English speaker and the language spoken at the leadership bootcamp was English. I still don’t know if I’m going to get a medal in the Brazilian Physics Olympiad. I didn’t know if I would have time to do exercises to prepare myself for it. I had a lot of worries. But the one that most bothered me was: I’m not having time to prepare myself for my project’s presentation.

To explain better, I’m doing a project to help reach the ONU’s Global Goals For Sustainable Development until 2030. And it involves 100% my school, and the presentation is happening this August 1st.

All those worries that I listed above, I felt this month. At the leadership bootcamp, I learned something very interesting:

You are not happy if you are ungrateful.

This article and this one too are so interesting to understand that affirmation. You are probably thinking: What the hell Gratitude is relationated to being on the present?!?! And I answer to you: They are 100% relationated.

Gratitude has many different meanings, and all of them I believe are correct. Although, I define gratitude as how you recognize good things that you have or are in your life now. How you handle the moment.

Gratitude = 100% Present

I was feeling worried because I was only seeing things that could happen and harm me. The cup was full to me, but I looked to it thinking it was empty. Those thoughts in a possible future stopped me from being happy on that moment. And how I handled that moment, just made the situation worse.

In the moment I put my feet in the Institute of Physics Gleb Wataghin at Unicamp I forgot everything. I was at the same time busy there and enjoying the moment. Being happy for the fact that I was there. All the challenges and studies, just made me feel more focused on the present.

The same thing last week at BLB (Brazil Leadership Bootcamp), I had activities since 9 am to 9 pm. It was amazing. I was on the present. I totally forgot about the project that I need to showcase. About the Physics exercises, I need to do until the next Olympiad phase.

This week I’m having those preparing classes, I’m just focusing on it. I scheduled that I’m going only to think about Physics from Monday until Friday. And in the weekend I’m preparing myself for my presentation and relaxing.

It’s working! Daily routines may look boring, but if you enjoy each moment as for how new they are, even appearing they don’t, you are going to be happy. Being grateful for the present is one of the things you need to do for being happy.

I could have been doing more exercises on my weekend. I could have been spending more time on my project too. But I don’t. I go out with my friends, family and I do other things that I love and brings me comfort.

Is that procrastination? No. It’s called “Recharging”.

Sometimes It’s better to stop doing things that are letting you so exhausted to relax, be comfortable, to recharge your energies and be more productive.

“Breno, it can influence your goals, it can harm them”

Yes, it can. I don’t care. You should not care. Remember the “be present” idea? If you all the time are thinking about your goals, your present will be fueled by worries, by your anxiety. I’m saying this because I did it because I do it. I’m trying hard to don’t be scared of failure. I learned recently that success with failures and happiness, in the process, is better than one without happiness, without purpose, without the present.

Conclusion

Be present. Be grateful. Enjoy your life. What matter accomplishing your goals if you are not happy. Try to focus more on things you are doing than the ones you will do.

Follow this ideas and you probably are going to be happier.

Happiness isn’t only about the things I wrote here.

It’s about purpose, comfort and other things that I will write on other articles here.

Thanks for reading this text. It means a lot to me. Have a nice day :D

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Bye!