There are times in everyone’s life when they think about how it could have been. How would things have turned out by taking that job overseas? Would life have been better had that one relationship not expired? What if you never met that certain person? If you never took that chance and failed, would you have ever known success? There are so many unanswered questions as we waltz through this life.
When we get lost in the, ‘what ifs’ and ‘should haves’ we take away from the moment we are in. We begin to SHOULD on ourselves. Read that again, we SHOULD on ourselves. We steal the joy from the present moment. We begin to swim in a sea of negativity and regret. The fact of the matter is, you are exactly where you are meant to be.
I have not met a person on this planet that was not striving for continual joy and happiness in life. True happiness is attained by accepting every road taken which has gotten you to this very moment. You do not have to love every moment, but understand that path got you here. Embrace this moment. Feel every bit of it. Soak it up. We are guaranteed nothing other than this moment.
Thinking about living life in the moment allows us to be much more present. It grounds us to be more aware of our five senses and the beauty around us. I made myself a promise years ago. I promised that I would always stop and smell the flowers. It sounds rather cliché, but it is a true gift. I have often been laughed at for having a smudge of pollen on my nose. Smelling those flowers helps to keep me in the moment. Take notice of the world around you. Breathe it in.
I used to wonder what my life would become. I would imagine where I would be in five years. Those thoughts would often provide an escape from something going wrong in my life. However, when I take notice of the world around me right now, five years from now seems silly to think about. I am here. I am right in the middle of what I used to look forward to. I am right in the middle of my life.
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This post is republished on Medium.
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Photo credit: GESPHOTOSS on Unsplash