Pause And Live In The Present

Too many patients share with me that either they are about to retire after working for more than 4 decades, or they just retired to finally enjoy life, only to find that they have cancer. In the past year, two of my friends passed away in their 40s from health issues. Many people are busy, working full-time in their jobs, at home or both. There is time to rush and no time to even reflect on their lives. In the end, there is barely anytime to really enjoy life.

The rush in everyday routine often causes anxiety, stress and frustration. It is easy to miss the actual living part of life. In the end, you may question what the whole point of your life is, when you are hurrying and constantly looking to go to the next point.

To live in the present is to be aware of the moment. To be mindful, to acknowledge and to focus on what is going on around you and inside of you. It is to experience with your full sensory and mental capacity, without concentrating on your past or your future.

This is not to say that you are not to think about the past or the future. In fact, I believe it is important to remember your past and looking ahead in the future. It is important to find the balance of your past which you cannot change, your future based on your goals and dreams, and your present which is the now.

You get to live in the present if you are intentional about it. It is helpful to look ahead into the future to envision what you want, and bring it back to the present. If you want to travel around the world, why not do it now, at least for a little bit? The most common answer for not taking a pause and do what you want right now is there is no time. It is an interesting answer, a deeply rooted belief for many people. There is this concept that there will be time to pause in the future. There will be time for a break later. The present is used as a means to get to that future point, where you want to be.

That future may always just be your future. What if your future does not arrive? Or do you want to spend sixty plus years of your life rushing and the rest of your life maybe doing what you want? I say maybe because at that time, you may have other issues such as health constraints that limit what you can do.

There is always time to pause if you make the time to pause, no matter how busy you are. Be intentional about it. You get to fully experience life. By taking a pause mentally and physically and simply be in the moment, you get to set aside your worries. You get to experience and face your emotions, both pleasant and unpleasant ones. You get to experience more peace, content and gratitude.

Set aside a time every day to pause and experience the present. Even just for five minutes. Connect with your mind and your body. Notice and experience the physical sensations and the emotions. Meditate and fully immerse yourself in the moment.

On a bigger scale, be intentional to plan a bigger pause, such as a vacation. If you want to travel around the world, start now, even just going to one country you have not been to. Enjoy it. Go with people you want to be with.

Life is precious. There is a finite time we are on Earth, and we do not know how long it is going to be. No matter how busy you are, no matter how deeply you believe that you do not have time, you get to decide to schedule time to pause. Pause and live in the present. It is alright to reflect on your past and learn from it but not dwell in it. It is also helpful to look into your future but not use that as your main focus of just getting there. The future, where you want to be, is a reference. You use that as a guide and start living your future now, a little bit at a time.