The most important moment is always the present and the most precious thing you have to donate to someone is your time. The future is a mere expectation and the past is just a recent or old memory of what has passed. It's always now!
There is nothing new in saying that we should care about the present moment and that painting the future with expectations is almost proportionally reaping disappointments. The task of adjusting expectations to reality is not an easy one. But that is not what this text is about. What I want to reflect here has more to do with a change of focus and with the value we place on moments that really matter.
However, it is inevitable to discuss topics that deal with the present moment and the future without taking a look at the idea of ​​death. Most of us do our best not to think about it. But there's always a part of our mind that knows it won't last long.
“You don't know there will come a day when you're sick or someone close to you is going to die, and you're going to look back at the kind of things that captured your attention and think, "What was I doing?" You know that, and yet, if you're like most people, you're going to spend most of your life tacitly assuming you're going to live forever.”
Author of several important books and articles in the neuroscientific area, Harris draws our attention to what he calls “a truly liberating truth about the human mind”: the fact that, “in terms of experience, the reality of your life is always the now".
Although this “now or present moment” cannot be well defined in neurological terms – “We know that brain inputs arise at different times and consciousness is built in layers of inputs whose timing has to be different. Our awareness of the present moment is, in a relevant sense, a memory” – the most precious things are always in the only moment we can experience them, the rest will probably turn to regret.
Well, now that I have the information that I don't live forever and that I should care more about the things that are precious to me, what do I do with it?
Well, it's not a matter of having new information or more information. The simple realization of this gets you nowhere. True transformation comes through an “attitude shift in the attention you pay to the present moment” and perhaps the best way to understand and experience this whole paradox is to look for ways to live in the present moment. fully.
Pay attention to Details of everything that happens in your life. Usually the beauty of the moments is hidden there. And here it is worth a reflection on the change of perspective and the importance of being consciously present at all times.
We commonly live with autopilot on and most of the time it is what directs our thoughts and consequently our attacks. Working on our perception and our ability to be present at all times requires practice and persistence. As well as everything in life.
Hugs and see you soon!
You may also like the author's other articles: Freedom: Do you consider yourself a free person?
