Why do we feel like time just flies by? Why do we feel like we haven’t lived at all in spite of being on this planet for good odd years? Many a times we don’t remember how all these years of our lives passed by and what we did all this while.Sure we can remember all the things that we have done and how we spent our time. Nevertheless, we still feel that we haven’t lived our life. And I think that’s because we haven’t truly lived in the moment doing what we’re doing.
Our mind does a 24*7 job of generating thoughts- which is always(most of the time) about contemplating our future, the things we have done in our past, the things we wish we have done otherwise. And while we think about our past and the future we forget living in the present moment. We don’t actually be present and use all our senses to be aware of what’s happening right here. Right now. This moment passes by. And again we regret about how we haven’t lived our lives. You see the cycle here?!
I wish if our mind did the same job about thinking of the present moment. Our lives would be much more beautiful and mindful. We wake up each day, do so many things which we don’t pay attention to. It could be as simple and monotonous as brushing our teeth everyday. How many of you actually focus on how you brush your teeth? No right?! Then what do we do? Yes, you are right. Our mind does its job about thinking of what we did yesterday, what we did years ago, or the future- like what to do at work,…. etc. You could say that we don’t really have to be present to do such a task. That your mind need not be present for it. But look at all such things you do in a day- showering, eating, driving and other chores. All these moments from your today. Your now. Your present. And when we are not present in the moments of our life, that’s when we feel like we haven’t lived our lives. And I’m not saying that we shouldn’t plan our future or think about what to do next in our lives. Sure you must. You can do that by allocating a specific time for it in your day- where you plan for your future endeavors. Not when you are doing something else. Only that way you can do true justice to it.
Also, there can be times where you’d be very excited for something- it could be any important event in your life, a trip you’re going to, be it anything. During times like these, your excitement for it makes you think about what will be next, how’s it gonna be, will I cherish that beautiful moment forever? It’s natural to feel excited and think this way but we might end up losing the essence of it sometimes. You feel like it all just passed by, and you haven’t truly lived- that’s again because your mind was busy thinking about stuff. All you need to do is take a step back from it, stop thinking about what’s going to happen next and cease the moment my friend. And how do you do it? Just breathe. Yes, BREATHE. You might be wondering that how by just breathing you can be in the present moment. I mean you are constantly doing it right!! Don’t worry, I did wonder the same. But when I thought about how we constantly think about what’s gonna happen next, we are not present in the moment. We take around 22,000 breaths each day, but how many of it are we actually aware of?! And by being aware of your breath you are in the present moment. Noticing your breath and being mindful of what’s happening within yourself helps you to stay present. Hoping that my journey of mindful living will help you all!
Love,
Varsha Vemula!