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As a matter of fact, it’s the only way to live…to really be alive. It is also the most powerful cure for stress management.
We hear so many times that we should live life to its full capacity. Every time I’ve heard that, I’ve always had pictures in my mind of people going on adventurous trips or having this big glamorous life.
It is only recently that I’ve discovered that it is not about that at all. It’s about conscious living.
Wake Up, You are Alive
To really be alive, you have to be in the moment. Now, and I mean really now, this very second, is the only time that counts. It’s the only time you can really be alive. The past is finished, the future isn’t here yet. You only live now. This is conscious living.| What happened with me a lot (and it is still happening from time to time), is that my mind were so pre-occupied with the future and sometimes the past, that I’ve missed being conscious of where I was at that very moment. I missed the moment, because my mind was at some point in the future, anticipating or worrying about some event. |
But that future never arrived, because when I got there, it was still only that moment that counts, and then I caught myself thinking about another projected or event sometime in the future.
Unconscious Living
Any thought about the future, is just a projection. It’s not real. It takes your mind of the “here and now”. It is not conscious living.It can make you numb. This is the cause of most stress in people’s lives. If this is the way you live your life, these moments of complete awareness, this conscious living, only happens briefly and only by chance.
It is the absence of conscious living and being aware of the moment, that’s causing people to have stressful lives.
It’s what’s causing people to forget about their dreams, or even worse, to give up on their dreams. It’s what’s causing people to resist their current situation. It can even prevent you from properly planning for the future.
Get Into the Here and Now
Take your current situation for instance. There where you are reading this article. Where is your mind? What are you worrying about? I bet your mind is somewhere in the immediate or distant future or past. Do you experience the moment?
| Just be quite, really quiet for a second and listen to the sounds around you. Even the silence in between. What does the chair you sit on feels like? Do you feel the clothes on your body? What emotions are you experiencing? That’s your life at this very moment. Become aware of it, and live. |
Next time you talk to your loved ones - your husband, wife, kids, mother, father, friends - be aware of the moment. Be aware of what they are telling you. Be aware of the sounds of their voices.
It happens so many times that we are away from them and then we miss them, but when we are with them, we do not really appreciate them, because we are not conscious and in the” here and now”.
When you are driving somewhere, become aware of what you are experiencing. What are you seeing around you? You will be amazed at how many things you’ve missed in the past.
Now Is The Best Space To Plan For The Future
Does this means that you shouldn’t plan for the future. To the contrary. If you are living in the “now”, you are in the best possible space to plan for the future. Have you ever been in a situation where you regret decisions that you’ve made under pressure?If you think back now, the right decisions seems so obvious, but at that very moment you couldn’t see it. You’ve made those faulty decisions, because you were probably not in the “now”.
You were probably projecting some future scenario that cluttered your mind. Being conscious of the present moment and living now, is the most productive space you can be in to plan for the future.
To be conscious and aware of the moment you are currently in, is what living life to its fullest really mean…its conscious living.
| Your life won’t arrive somewhere in the future when you have the car, the house or the cash. You don’t have to wait to live like the people in the ads. Your life is now, right now, at this moment. Live it. It is the essence of effective stress management. |
Recommended Book on the Topic of Conscious Living:
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