Living in this Moment

Right now, at this moment, how are you feeling?

One of the key tenets of the practice of mindfulness is being in the now. Rather than looking back to the past or forward to the future, often subconsciously, you put yourself in the now, consciously.

When you are conscious of where you are, what you are doing, and what you are thinking and feeling that is practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness is awareness, primarily of yourself…but that also better opens you to be mindful of the world around you, too.

And I don’t mean “the world” as in the broad, wide world at large. This is not about the big picture and the abstract, disconnected matters that beg for your attention. This is specifically about mindfulness of your immediate surroundings. The environment in which you are in right now.

This moment, as you are reading this, is one-of-a-kind. It is unique. And it will never happen again. To be sure, you will likely have moments like this moment, close and extremely similar to this moment, but it is going to soon be in the past and will not be experienced in the exact same way again.

This can be good because it means when bad things do happen they can and will pass. If this moment is a bad moment it will end and be no more. But that also means that if this moment is a great moment, it, too, will end and be no more.

Life is in a constant, never-ending state of flux. Change is inevitable and that tends to scare people. But the truth is that change is growth, evolution, and a chance to learn new things.

Mindfulness of the moment

When you practice mindfulness one of the elements of this is being in the here-and-now. When you are aware of your thoughts, feelings, and actions that is mindfulness. That awareness is not subconscious, but conscious, and is in the now.

This is because real awareness is a product of this moment, the now. Much of what people say they are “aware” of is actually pretty abstract. Political happenings, the results of the playoff games, warmongering, and other world occurrences are not real products of the now. Yet people often take them as being something they are aware of.

It’s important to understand why this is. Why are these things not true awareness? Because they are not within your immediate environment. They are not happening to you directly, they are indirect and abstract.

Why abstract? Because perception is individual. How I perceive the world at large is different from how you perceive it, and vice versa. Hence, Einstein’s quote:

“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”

The reality that people claim to be aware of is not their personal picture, just the persistent illusion of reality that forms the collective consciousness of the word. Your individual reality, this moment in which you read these words, is wholly yours and where you truly are aware.

There are cultures that have specific practices that are meant to put you entirely and completely in the now, in this specific moment. Among the most common and well-known practices are Yoga and meditation.

The emphasis of these practices is being present, in the moment, aware of your breath and breathing. Specifically…being in the now.

What are you thinking? What and how are you feeling?

If at this moment, as you are reading these words, you are in a bad environment and/or not a mental place you would prefer to be – you can change it. I recognize that if you’re on the job taking a break from your work or goofing off to avoid work, that may be unchangeable. But you can change your focus.

moment If at this moment, these words resonate with you and are making you think and feel differently than you were before reading this, that means your awareness has changed.

Yes, it really can be that simple. Mindfulness is a practice that can be done from moment to moment. When you are in your subconscious, mindfulness can shift you to consciousness.

You are empowered with a lot more ability to find and/or create the world you live within than you may easily recognize. You can live in this moment at any time, and if it’s not how you desire it to be you have the power to alter it. If this moment is full of negativity, you have the power to exchange it for positivity instead.

Finding yourself in the moment isn’t hard, but it does require action

Knowing that you have the power to be aware of your thoughts, feelings, and actions, you can choose to recognize that you are in this moment. When you become aware of this, and you can see how you can alter, change, and even control your reality at this moment, that ultimately empowers you. When you feel empowered, your mindfulness increases, you become more aware overall, and that tends to spread to other people around you.

As such, you can build more positive feelings and discover more reasons to feel positivity and gratitude. That can be the impetus to improve many aspects of your life for the better, generating even more gratitude.

Gratitude leads to happiness. Happiness leads to love. Love is the ultimate positive attitude. An attitude of gratitude is an attitude of positivity that begets even more good energies – and that, like you, is always worthwhile.

This is the three-hundred-tenth entry of my Positivity series. It is my hope these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone. Feel free to share, re-blog and spread the positivity.

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