What Does It Mean To Be In The Moment?

What is the meaning behind being in the moment; what does it really do for us? Existing solely in the moment you are in allows you to connect to what is real. Anytime we are withdrawn, distant, or not present, we are living in a way that is not real. Existing anywhere other than the exact moment you are in creates a false world around you. When we are lost in our past, our memories, or our thoughts, we are existing in a time that is no longer real. Even if we are somewhat present, yet distant because of our thoughts or emotions, we are not existing in reality.

To be in the moment is to let all else go. It means letting go of your past, your connection to what was, so that you no longer drift backwards in time. Being present means no longer jumping ahead to the future because projecting the present into the future in any way is not real. If we get out of our heads and emotional attachments, we can just exist as we are, where we are. We can live without destroying the reality we are living in. How often have you spent a day worrying about what might happen? How often have you given yourself over to your memories, daydreaming, regretting, or imagining something to have been different? What did you miss during that day? Anytime we pull ourselves away from reality, we are existing in a place that is not part of what is real. This place is us going into the future or the past, whether by thought or emotion, and thus pulling ourselves away from now.

Have you ever spent a whole day attached to some thought or emotion, and before you knew it, you missed the day you were in? So often this happens because we let ourselves float off on tangents because of our fears, hopes, worries, thoughts, or emotions. Anything we do that takes us away from now is us not living in reality. Reality is only the moment you are in, nothing more. Your ideas for the future are not real, for the future hasn’t happened yet. Your attachments to your past are gone because your past no longer exists. The only time that truly exists is now. Even if you are present, are you still thinking about something other than where you are? Are you missing now? Are your emotions overriding your present state, and are they unattached to what is really happening now? When we live in the moment, we are not only present in reality, but we are clearer because there is nothing in the way. There are no emotions or thoughts to pull us away; it is us just being present with the moment and nothing more.