Presence in the now
The only moment where you actually live
The human mind is a marvelous time machine. We can rewind and relive what happened ten years ago, and fast-forward to a thousand horror scenarios about the future. But the time machine is also our greatest source of suffering: rumination brings grief and regret, worry brings anxiety about things that mostly never happen.
You sit in a restaurant having a wonderful dinner with a friend – but you're thinking about tomorrow's difficult email. You are physically at the restaurant, mentally at the office. You have missed your own life.
The only moment where you actually live, breathe, can make decisions and affect your life is right now. Train yourself to call your senses home: when your thoughts flee, direct your attention to five things you can see, hear or feel in this very second.
Where do your thoughts usually live – in the past, the future or the now? What does it cost you?
At one meal today: put away your phone and experience three bites fully. Taste, texture, warmth.