Living in the Here and Now

The former CEO of Coca-Cola Brian G. Dyson said, "Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them - Work - Family - Health - Friends - Spirit, and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls -- family, health, friends and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same."

I thought I will focus on two things from what I have learnt from my own experiences of what Brian Dyson said - The power of living in the present i.e. living in the now rather than in the past or future and not taking for granted what we already have.

Who does not like to bask in the glory of the past?  All of us always carry fond memories of the past and at times we dwell on what did not go well also. Whilst it is good to reminisce so that we can learn from what went well and what did not, it is important to take the learnings and move on.  Some of us spend too much time pondering on the future...worrying about things that are yet to happen...may or may not happen...things that we sometimes control and many a time do not control. Personally, I prefer to worry about those things that I can control and leave out things that I don't. 

However, by living in the past and in the future, we forget to focus on the present...on the here and now.  It is absolutely essential to be happy, contended and thankful for the here and now...you are alive and kicking...better off than millions of people across the world...just imagine the plight of people in the Gaza Strip and in the Israeli border towns now..they are facing rockets, having sirens blare the whole day long, children are terrified, etc....and for those in the Gaza strip, life is better than those who are forced to live in brothels in Cambodia...and for those in these brothels in Cambodia, they are better off than those who do not know whether they will stay alive the next moment in Africa...and the list goes on....looks like whatever situation one is in, we are better off than many others living somewhere else in the world.

Given this uncertainty of life, let us take what we have now with us and live it to the best of our ability.  It is essential to enjoy the current moment that we have with us for we do not know whether we will be around for the next one.

Most of the time, we take things or people around us for granted. For me, many a time, it has been taking family for granted...and I have learnt that it is the biggest mistake to make. Sometimes, I wish I spent more time with my dad...he is not around now physically, but his words and deeds live deep within me...inexplicably woven in to my mental fabric...

This "taking things or people for granted" and "living in the here and now" are inter-twined. If we decide to live in the present, we will slowly stop taking things or people for granted.

The other part of living in the now is to learn to listen to our body, our mind and our emotions.  We need to look at aligning the body, the mind and the spirit and start listening to what they say. When we do that, we end up being synchronous with the world around us and are consciously reaching out to everyone and everything that is around us.  Though I must confess that I have not been successful in doing this, I have started trying.  I understand from literature that I have read and many who have experienced this, that the feeling is just great.  We end up giving our selves endless power by living in the now. Many people have learnt of living in the now after having experienced death of a loved one or going through what we call as a near death experience.  They believe that the power of living in the now is just amazing. If we put our mind to it, each one of us will be able to do this.

One of the most powerful ways to holding on to what we have around us and not taking people for granted is by using the power of appreciation.  Every one of us has a need - that is, to feel wanted and appreciated. This is the biggest emotional need of human beings. By taking those around us for granted, we stop catering to this emotional need. If we are able to handle this well, we would have gone a long way in not taking the best things and people around us for granted.

Our family and friends are the people that we need to cling to as though they are our lives...because, they are, and without them, life is meaningless.