Life is so fast-paced, and our schedules are so hectic that most people have accepted that base level of anxiety, stress, and unhappiness that they consistently feel. What these people don’t know is that there is another way. Another way you can be free of the ties that are holding you from being happy and content with your life.
If you tend to focus too much on the past and the future, you’ll always feel out of touch with yourself. There is a solution to this. A great answer that may be the thing you need to be satisfied with your life and not have to feel so stressed all the time.
A New Earth
by Eckhart Tolle
⏱ 16 minutes reading time
🎧 Audio version available
Pay Attention to the Small Details
Everyone in life wants to be happy and happier than they are. You’ll find that people who are content with their lives are the ones that find happiness every single day in the small things. They’re the ones living in the now.
Now, call it paying attention, being present, mindfulness, or whatever, but this amounts to noticing the world around you.
Instead of going through life trapped on auto-pilot or lamenting things in the past, start vividly noticing the small things around you. Be appreciative of your favorite things; see what makes you happy. Eat ice cream, listen to music, take a nature walk. Breathe, and focus on the beautiful, vibrant world around you.
This can be something as easy as slowing down and tasting your food– or taking out those headphones. Next time you’re on a commute to work or school, consider taking out your headphones and focusing on the sights you pass by.
Listen to the world around you. At the end of the week or even the day, ask yourself if you genuinely listen to the conversations you have engaged in.
Be Thankful and Give Thanks
You don’t need Thanksgiving to highlight what you’re thankful for in life. Every day, you can show your gratitude. Or maybe not even every day, but every now and then, stop, breathe, and remember how good you have it.
Whenever you feel grateful, right then and there, express your gratitude as you’re feeling it.
Gratitude is the “king” of happiness. The more you are inclined to gratitude, the less likely you will be depressed, anxious, lonely, envious, or neurotic. And it doesn’t just make you feel happier. You’ll find results as your life gets better—gratitude results in life satisfaction overall.
Do you know what can help? A gratitude journal.
A gratitude journal is a small notebook you keep. Every day, you can write down one to three things you are grateful for. Do this in both the morning and the evening. This will open your eyes and allow you to see more joy in your days and to focus on seeing patterns that are the ones responsible for making you the happiest.
Related: The Purpose of Life is Right in Front of You
Declutter
Free yourself from the constraints of the expectations of how you should live your life by simplifying it. Now, what does this mean? Throughout most of our lives, we’re continually having things thrown at us that we don’t need.
Why not simplify your life by getting rid of all the extra stuff that you don’t need? Only keep the things that give you happiness. Decluttering your house feels like decluttering your soul.
If you’re wary about getting rid of something, as yourself this: is this object making me happy? Has it already served its purpose? If it’s no longer useful or it doesn’t bring you joy, then you can feel confident while throwing it away.
Get Over FOMO
What is “FOMO?” You may recognize the definition: FOMO is a world that was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2013, and it’s “the uneasy and sometimes all-consuming feeling that you’re missing out – that your peers are doing, in the know about, or possession of more or something better than you.” It means “fear of missing out.”
As you can tell, FOMO is the opposite of “living in the now.” It’s keeping you trapped and unhappy. It leads to obsessively checking social media not to feel like you’re missing or being left out of the loop.
But FOMO stems from unhappiness.
You can combat this “fear of missing out” by making commitments to yourself and others. Next time you’re with a friend, instead of sitting back and scrolling through Facebook or your email, live in the moment and promise yourself that you’ll focus on enjoying this person’s company. Be present while you’re eating.
And if you practice this with a friend or several, then suggest this challenge: everyone places their phones on the table with their notifications off, and the first person that gives up and reaches for their phone has to pay the bill.
Forgive
You can only find freedom and happiness in living the present if you let go of the part. So if you’re harboring a grudge or resentment towards someone because of past hurts, you have the powerful option of choosing to forgive and move on. What happened was their fault, their mistakes, and it shouldn’t be affecting your mood today.
Yes, it can be challenging to forgive those people who have wronged us in the past, but it’s necessary if you want to live in the present and not be held back.
Forgiveness doesn’t just apply to other people. Forgive yourself. Instead of focusing on the negative events that have happened in the past, focus on the good that came out of it. If you have learned a lesson, be grateful.
Forgive and heal, and then you can be free.
Work Hard Today, Dream about the Future Later
Reveling in the presence isn’t limited to forgetting or getting over the past; the future plays a part in this equation. Yes, it’s necessary to think about the future and to dream about your goals.
It’s encouraged that you dream big and set goals and plans, but right now, in this very moment, you start working towards that future. And you do by working hard. Don’t replace living in the moment with dreaming about tomorrow.
Now, we want you to think of the goals you want to achieve the most. Picture them. This is a valuable strategy that will make sure you’re likely to follow through on making those goals come true.
When you take a moment and visualize yourself working towards that goal and completing, gathering as much detail as you can– so much so that the goal feels like it’s in your grasp, then you’re motivated to get started right away.
There’s a common misconception that those “living in the now” ignore or deny the park or the future, and that’s not true. You reach the level of being “content” by choosing not to dwell on what’s not in the present.
Stop Using Old Solutions
The mindset of “this is how we have always done it” is a thing of the past. In this day and age, the world we’re living in is dramatically different from yesterday, and most of the solutions used in the past don’t work anymore.
Daily Wins Matter
This strategy will do wonders for your mood each day: celebrate each daily win to ensure happiness. If you succeed at something, if you went to the gym, if you ate a healthy meal, if you hung out and enjoyed time with a friend– before you go to bed, write down all your accomplishments in the day, no matter how big or small.
When all your accomplishments are written down like this, you’ll realize how many there are, and you’ll enjoy those wins instead of dwelling on what you didn’t accomplish.
Practice Yoga
There’s a reason why nearly everyone who has reached a stage in their lives where they’re content and are satisfied living in the present enthusiastically recommends yoga. It works!
Sometimes we slip, so whenever you need to bring yourself back into the present and overcome a moment of fear, stress, anxiousness, and just feeling overwhelmed by the past of the future, yoga may be your answer to calming down.
Yoga centers you. It makes you breathe in deeply and think, “I am here” and “This is now.”
Yoga is so popular because its gentle flow from one position to another develops your ability to stay present.
And when you focus on your breath, you have no choice but to focus on the present.
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