“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”
Buddha
Simply to say, not so simple to do. Most of us still spend a lot of our regular days lost in memories, reliving a sunny vacation or maybe more commonly repeating an old conflict or negative situation over and over in our thoughts. Well, don’t be too afraid, we are just human beings and we do a lot of mistakes. One of them is to constantly think about the past or the future, consuming ourselves and a lot of time in trying to give explanations that we usually don’t have. We get lost in scenarios about what could happen in the future, or we think what would happened in the past if…
I have found that it becomes easier for me to stay present for more time throughout my day if I single-task everything as best I can. Especially women tend to do really a lot of things together: cooking, working, cleaning the house, talking to the children, being a perfect mother and a perfect wife. Take it easy and slow down: whatever you do, do it slowly and try to feel concentrate on the task. So many times I have driven from one location to another without even knowing how I got from point A to B and I was not drunk! The fact is that we are so busy to think about too many things, that we are actually never focused.
A good tip is to minimise what you let into your head early in the day. Believe me: the world will still go round, even if you are not perfect or multitasking all day long. To reconnect with the here and now, try to learn to say no. When you say yes even if you don’t like it or mean it, is like taking a backpack full of stones: you really don’t want it and during the day or months it will just become heavier. Being fully present is a challenge. This unique challenge requires constant work (at least for me). I can honestly say that I have gotten better at being present but still slip up from time and time and return to my old ways of functioning. When I notice my mind racing, I like to dig into my mindful bag of tricks for a little help.
Take it easy on yourself. When you find that you are thinking ahead, gently remind yourself of the importance of the present. A little thinking ahead, visualizing and planning is wonderful. Getting lost in your thoughts and detached from reality, not so good.
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