How do you live ‘In the Now’?

Someone says, “don’t think of an elephant!” What happens? We try not to think of an elephant, of course, only to find we’ve already failed. By attempting not to do it, we’ve pictured the elephant we need to get rid of.

What if someone says, “don’t be in the now!” Or “be anywhere except in the present moment!” Can we do it? Are we stuck ‘in the now’ like we were stuck with the elephant?

What is ‘the Now’?

Many of us are concerned with ‘the now.’ We want to get back there. But where is it? What does ‘now’ mean?

By ‘living in the now,’ we mean being focused and concentrated, free from regretful memories or anxieties about the future. We could think of it as ‘flow,’ or ‘the zone’ — a state of total immersion in an activity.

It’s a wonderful feeling, but only in retrospect. When we’re really in the flow, we’re too concentrated to even realize it. That’s the place we want to get back to: being so involved with what we’re doing that all problems disappear. The complicated world is simple when we’re absorbed in the task at hand.

The Bigger Picture

But there’s also a larger ‘now.’ There’s the present moment. Not our ability to focus, but that dot on the timeline between past and future where you are.

The weird thing about the now in this sense is that we’re never not in it. It’s impossible to get away from.

Whatever happens, happens now. Memories, anticipations, fears, flashbacks, plans, fantasies of possible futures — all take place in the present. When else could anything happen? The future isn’t here yet, and the past is gone. All thoughts and experiences occur now.

Who cares?

Who cares about this big now? Why is it important to consider the present moment? What most of us want is to be in the little now — to be focused.

But there’s something practical about the bigger perspective, the big now. Because when we realize that everything happens now, we’re not so concerned about getting back to it. We don’t have to search for a place we never leave.

In my experience, this realization frees up mental energy. We no longer worry if we’re in the now or not — we know that we always are — so focusing on whatever we need to focus on is easier. The distraction of having to ‘live in the now’ disappears.

Imaginary Distance

When trying not to think of an elephant, we think of an elephant. When we’re trying to be in the now, we feel like we’re far from it. We create an imaginary distance from ourselves and ‘now.’