One of the first things that you notice when you get older is that life feels like it’s moving more quickly. While there are many reasons that we feel like this – for example, the fact that every day represents a smaller percentage of our total life – one of the reasons is that our minds are often focused on stressors, goals, tasks that we have to complete, and other things that take us away from the present and puts our focus on the past and future.
Staying in the present is important. It helps you appreciate those around you. It slows life down. It gives you a chance to worry not about your regrets, and instead puts you in a position to appreciate where you are and who is around you. It can even help improve relationships. But it is also not something that comes naturally to everyone. How can you stay in the present when so much pulls you away?
Trick to Stay Present
In order to stay in the present, you have to change your mindset as to what the present is. Many people find it to be a distraction from their thoughts, or disruptive. For example, some people get frustrated at their children for interrupting their worries to show them something they created.
Instead, to stay in the present, you have to learn to view every moment as a choice you are making and a ‘thing” that you *want* to invest in. In life, you always have options. You have the ability to make a conscious choice about who and what you can control around you. If and when you allow yourself to get pulled into thoughts and regrets about what’s missing in your life or fears about the future, you are choosing to allow those thoughts to take you out of the experience you are in now.
Your goal, in order to be more present, is to recognize that it is a choice and make an intentional choice to see and feel the present instead. And, if you find that the present is, genuinely, something that you do not want in your life, then you also have the choice to change it. You have the ability to take back that control and put yourself into circumstances that are in line with what you want and who you want to be.
Mindfulness, Choices, and You
We often feel like our thoughts, stresses, and emotions are out of our control. That is not necessarily the case. We often *let* them be out of our control, but we have the ability to take back control over them. It just requires you to see your own feelings, thoughts, and more in a different light.
If you need help taking back that control, contact Long Island Psychology today to speak to one of our team members.
