Welcome to the 30^th day of the Just For Today Challenge – 31 Days To A Better You. We are on the second last day of the challenge. Where did the time go? How have you been doing so far on the challenge? Do you think you’ll able to complete the last couple of challenges? I hope so! We are on roll so don’t stop now.

Are you like me? I have such a hard time being present and living in the moment. I swear, if I’m not thinking of the past and the good times that I had, then I’m thinking of the future and what could be possible then. I’m hardly ever really present and just enjoying each moment as it happens.

The Challenge Just For Today is to be present today and stop living in the past or the future. Enjoy today for what it is – a present. A cliche, I know, but it’s also true.

Do you notice how we tend to gloss over events the past and only think of the good things that have happened in our lives? I think it’s easier to fool ourselves that we had it better in the past and discount the problems and trials that we went through. I’m not saying that everything in the past was better, but just that we tend to forget some of the experiences that we went through. ‘Oh, maybe they weren’t that bad’, we say. While at the same time, we build up impossibly the good times. ‘That was the best time of my life’ we say to ourselves, as if we will never experience the same in the present.

Dreaming of the future can be just as bad. The future hasn’t happened yet so it has unlimited potential.

We can be anyone, do anything, have everything that we want in the future.

The fallacy of thinking this way is that it probably won’t live up to what we’ve built up the future to be and then we are disappointed. Not only that, but the idea of the future is so nebulous. I mean really, before I sat down to write this article, I thought about what I would write and how great it would turn out and how effortlessly the words would find themselves on the page. Now, that I’m in the present and actually writing the article, it’s not so effortless and I have doubts how great this article will ultimately turn out. See, I told you that I have problems living in the moment

I’m not one of those lucky people who seem to be able to be present and ‘be in the flow’ of life, happy with whatever activity they are doing at that moment. My mind seems to be multi-tasking like the energizer bunny. If I’m not visualizing how great the future will be, I’m reminiscing about the past.

Well, not for today. Just For Today, I’m going to work on being present and living in the moment.

No more reminiscing about the past and what was.

No more dreaming and fantasizing about the future and what may be.

Today, I will be living in the present and enjoying this moment. And this one. And this one. And so on.

We are alive right this moment. The past has come and gone. The future hasn’t happened yet. All we really have is this moment. Let’s not waste it because although we think that we are invincible and will live forever the reality is that none of us will getting out alive. Our time is finite and no one knows when the game will be up for them.

Whatever I am doing today, whether that be taking a shower, vacuuming the carpet, eating my meals, writing articles, or the myriad of other daily activities I do, I’m going to concentrate and single-task on that activity. I want to experience being ‘in the flow’ and going along with whatever happens. I hope to be more mindful while performing these tasks.

It’s not going to be easy, but I’m going to try.

It’s not possible to have two thoughts at the same time. Our minds don’t work that way. You can’t be thinking of what happened last night while at the same time thinking how much you like the apple you’re chewing. Only one thought can exist at a time.

What concerns me is what I’m missing in the present while my mind has been preoccupied with the past and my future. What am I not consciously aware of right now that is happening in my life? A great many things, I’m sure. What are you missing right now in the present, because you’re thinking of the past or the future?

Don’t be stuck in the past. It’s finished, finito, over with. There is nothing that you can do about it. Let’s move on and enjoy the present. I think we will all be happier living in the now.

Carpe diem! Rejoice while you are alive; enjoy the day; live life to the fullest; make the most of what you have. It is later than you think. - Horace 

I hope we can be successful in today’s challenge. Let me know how you did by leaving a comment below. Thanks!

For a list of all of the Challenges, see the Just For Today Challenge page.

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Tagged as: Be Present, Just For Today Challenge, Live for Today