In the modern world, we’re so ‘busy’ living our lives, or planning them, that we often forget to actually live.
When we’re not ‘plodding along’, surviving the working day, waiting until the weekend, essentially living on auto-pilot; we’re planning a series of extra-ordinary events in a desperate attempt to prove to ourselves that we are living. Even then, as soon as we get to the concert/hotel/party/pool, we often find it anti-climactic. When we put off our happiness like this, the pressure often becomes too much, and even the most awesome of events can feel like a big let down.
Part of the problem here is that even when we’re at the thing we’ve waited for, we’re still lost in our heads. We’re not in the Now.
How many people’s first action at a gig, is to pull out their phone and share on social media? How many people lay by the pool, enjoying a holiday they’ve waited on forever, only to start either dreading the return home or planning where they’ll go next?
What kind of life is this? Putting your happiness in a box, opening it months later to find it’s empty?!
Luckily, the solution is simple: be in the moment! Use your senses of sight, sound, smell, touch and taste – feel, see, hear and experience the present moment.
Practise at home on the couch; when you’re making a cup of tea; when you’re walking barefoot on your carpet; as the hot water pounds on your head from the shower.
Be in the moment.
The more you practise this, the stronger your attention and concentration muscles become. This means that when your day is extra fabulous and utterly unordinary, you might actually notice and enjoy it!
Be more alien: explore life as though you’ve never seen it before! You might just find that you notice a whole host of little things, that you’d never noticed before.
Here’s a picture of an old church that I’ve lived near for the last 9 years. It’s right across from my local supermarket. When I went shopping the other day, I actually noticed it. I actually paused in the car park and stared at this gigantic, beautiful building. It’s magnificent! Every time I go shopping now, I take a minute to look over at this gorgeous, ancient place and the nature that surrounds it. One dark morning, I even noticed that it was lit in certain places. It really was a sight to behold.
Beauty is everywhere: but if you’re not paying attention, you won’t see or feel it.
Happiness is generally found in the present moment. Therefore it stands to reason that the more time you spend in the present moment, the happier you will become.
Can you relate to this? Do you put happiness on your calendar, only to find that when the day comes, you forget to enjoy it? What glorious surroundings have you bypassed in your ‘busy’ state? Thoughts, ideas, pictures welcome!
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