Live in the Moment

Today I am working on living in the moment.  For me, this is a very hard thing to do so I am hoping to acquire a habit of it.  I tend to ruminate on the past and worry about the future.  My justification for worrying about the future is that I need to be prepared in case my fears come to fruition.  The glaring problem with this mindset is that while I worry about the future, I don't do much to prepare for it.  My worries paralyze me and I do nothing.  So what, then, is the benefit to all my worrying?

One thing that I have been practicing is being mindful of where I am.  Sometimes, when my anxiety gets the best of me, I try to fill my senses with my present surroundings.  I tell myself where I am, what I can smell, what I can feel with my hands, and what I see.  This helps.  It grounds me to the present, and helps me see that there is nothing at that moment that warrants my debilitating anxiety.

All of this requires an attitude adjustment.  I really believe that adjusting my attitude will bring me benefits.  As I read some of the blogs that inspire me, I see that the wisest people advocate changing your attitude.  This is not a new idea for me.  I have always found Viktor Frankl's book, Man's Search for Meaning, to be one of my favorite inspirations.  The book presents his philosophy that you can change how you feel about things, how you react to things, how you view things, thus exercising your free will in even the most horrific times.  What is new for me is a concentrated effort to live this way.

So today I am making conscious choices.  I am choosing to be happy, to live in the present, and to be mindful of where I am and what I have.