Tough (Question) Tuesday: Are you living in the present?
MOMENTS CAN BE MONUMENTS by lakeillustration
OK, OK, I get the hint, Universe! After reading the posts Spiritual Conundrum & Do You Live Like a Hummingbird? within an hour of each other, & after experiencing my first “real” morning as an entrepreneur (more on that tomorrow!), I know what I need to keep reminding myself:
Are you living in the present?
This doesn’t mean that I’m going to automatically become a slacker, putting my Big Ideas & Projects on the backburner. Hell to the no! However, I know that the best way to get it all done, stay sane & enjoy the journey (all at the same time!) is to keep breathing & repeatedly ask myself that question above. You only have two eyes – if one is focused on the future & the other is still looking at the past, then who’s making note of the present, where joy & happiness lives?
I know this is a super tough question today (even a philosophical / existential one!), but take your best shot at it in the comments section. We’re all here to acknowledge & support ya!
Oh, and to everyone celebrating Passover (like me!), I hope it’s a good one filled without too many pizza cravings!
Tags: Tough (Question) Tuesday
March 30th, 2010 at 3:17 am
Yes … this is the challenge of my life, and a question I ask myself multiple times a day. Thank you for putting it so concisely. And congratulations on making the leap!
xo
March 30th, 2010 at 3:38 am
Great question, Michelle! What's coming up for me as I read it this morning isn't what you might expect, though. My focus went to the word LIVING, as in, "Are you LIVING in the present?"
I find that sometimes I can go through life in a fog…not really here nor there, not really LIVING, but just EXISTING. And that does not go along with my word for 2010, which is VITALITY!
So, thanks for the literal and figurative wake up call this morning. I'm going out to LIVE my Tuesday!
You entrepreneur, you!
xoxo,
Laura
March 30th, 2010 at 5:40 am
Today, I can say! It's been a great morning and I'm rocking it!
March 30th, 2010 at 7:05 am
@Lindsay – Glad to know that I ain't alone! And thanks for the Congrats – it's still a bit surreal, but I guess I'll get used to it eventually
@Laura – Ooh, I love that you saw the LIVING part first & it jumped out at you! I keep thinking about the PRESENT….maybe it's a combination of the two? Making sure you're living, & making sure that it's in the moment! This is getting complicated
Either way, you're gonna have the best Tuesday!
@Cory – Woo to the hoo! What's your secret?
March 30th, 2010 at 8:03 am
Michelle – This post is timely for me and points to two things I have been trying to work on. First, I realized yesterday in my review at work that I just can't let go of the past and I am letting it have too much influence on my present. My review was excellent but I keep feeling like I am not excelling – I am still wrapped up in a time when things weren't great at work, about what people used to think etc., that I am having a really hard time taking the compliments as truth. Seriously, I need to find a way to boost my confidence by believing the signs in my present versus letting my history trump my hard work. I keep looking for signs that I am doing ok, that I am appreciated and now I have it written in black and white. Why isn't that enough?
Second I connected with what Laura did – am I LIVING in all caps? Not really. Just last week I decided that I need to find a way to fit more things I love into my life so that work isn't the most significant thing clouding my mind and defining who I am. So I may not be LIVING in all caps right now, but I am working towards it.
March 30th, 2010 at 11:05 am
Yesiree Bob! But then, it's easy to live in the present when your present situation rocks — just like it's easy to be generous when you have more than you need.
The real trick is learning to live in the present even when your present situation is sucky — and to remain generous even when you're feeling anxious and under-abundant.
March 31st, 2010 at 3:45 pm
Yay! I love the discussion here! Michelle, you have such a gift for focusing in like a laser on the heart of the matter. I'm so happy for you that you're finally doing the coaching thing full-time! And I, too, focused on the PRESENT part of the question, although I think my issue with it was whether or not I'm truly LIVING in each moment. Laura's comment helped clarify that for me.
And I think Alexandra's comment about living in the present even when it sucks, is where it becomes spiritual (for me), rather than simply living in the moment for it's own sake (which is absolutely worthwhile too). I think that while joy is a gift from God, sitting mindfully through pain is…and here's where my spirituality gets fuzzy…a penance (raised Catholic)? a promise? a commitment? I'm not sure exactly, but I think if God was sending me any sort of personalized message after 34 years on this earth, it would simply read: Pay Attention!
Your blog is very, very good at helping me to do that! Thank you!
April 1st, 2010 at 8:13 am
Agreed, Alexandra!! It's super-fun for me to be all zen and present-like when times are rollin' and it's all good. But when things get sticky-tough? That's when my fears become Hurculean and try to either yank me into past regrets and all the crap that's led up to this crappy time OR they try to slingshot me into whatever murky version of the future they can conjure! SO–perhaps we're all, collectively, on to something here (spurred on by Michelle–yay, Michelle!). Really LIVING, and really being PRESENT, *no matter what.*
And Katy, I agree…if that's not spiritual work, I don't know what is!!
Cheers to all,
Laura
April 2nd, 2010 at 3:29 am
@Katy – I think that's my new tagline! "Michelle Ward: Like a Laser!" Awesome. As is the message you're getting to Pay Attention.
@Katy @Laura – And yes, I agree that sitting with your pain in the present is pretty self-torturous (that's not the word I'm looking for, but it's early & it ain't coming to me) & that might not be the best thing to do, but I DO believe that acknowledging your pain & dealing with it in the moment is an important step in getting through it. Such food for thought!
Thanks to you all for bringing such awesome conversation to my lil' bloggy home. Love it!