La importancia de vivir el momento presente. "Solo Vives HOY"

Living in the present moment is as important as breathing and it sounds so simple and logical that it is difficult to think that most of the emotional problems we face every day are a direct or indirect consequence of not living in the present moment.

For example, depression, in some cases, happens because we remain anchored to the past, accumulating grudges or feelings of melancholy. On the other hand, anxiety attacks us when we force ourselves to live thinking about the future, trying to solve problems that we do not yet have and probably will never have.

I had not stopped so much to reflect on this important topic, until last week I experienced a bit of chaos in my life, precisely because I was not living in the present moment, I will tell you a little to put it in context. Last week was a week of a lot of activity, there were many commitments that I had to fulfill and besides that I had to prepare everything for a family trip on the weekend. Since Monday my mind did not stop organizing actions for me to carry out, I began to act on autopilot, fulfilling the established schedule, but without much awareness of what I was doing, because I was thinking about how to perform the next task on the list.

On Tuesday I had a lunch with my children, to celebrate my oldest son's birthday, and it turns out that in my eagerness to pick up some packages before going to the restaurant, I left my cell phone at home. I felt as helpless and vulnerable as you can imagine, all the important information I needed was there and also some payment methods. I managed to solve some things with my daughter's phone, but I could not enjoy the moment because my mind was anxious.

The next day I had to go to the bank to run some errands, but I was not concentrating because I was thinking that I had to go home early to teach two online classes.
On my way back I went into the supermarket to buy some groceries, as I was on the clock, I left the store very quickly and left my debit card behind. During class I was also not concentrating because I was thinking that the next day I had to go to retrieve my card because I would need it for the trip. And so on and so forth things kept happening that made me realize that something was not right.

In short, I was not acting consciously in every single thing I was doing, because my mind was trying to go further in time, which is impossible. We cannot live in the future, the only moment we can live in is now. I know it is not easy, but when we analyze all that we miss because we want to live the tomorrow that is not yet here, then we regret. Like me today, I regret not having enjoyed lunch with my children that day. However, I cannot live in the past either, I can no longer change that fact, I must let go of that feeling and simply concentrate on what I can do today.

For the weekend trip, I prepared myself psychologically, challenging myself to enjoy every moment of the ride, to be aware of what my senses were experiencing and to be grateful for each experience. I promised myself to put my homework away and not think about it until Monday when it was my turn to do it. I can tell you, it was the trip I have enjoyed the most in the last few years. So, I invite you to live every second of your lives, to savor the food, to enjoy the water while taking a shower, to listen to your loved ones with attention and to understand that we only have today, yesterday is gone and tomorrow does not exist yet.

Thank you for reading, greetings and blessings.