What are the most memorable moments in your life? As you reflect on those moments, consider whether you were able to appreciate it “in the moment.” We are often missing out on what is happening now for one reason or another.
Were you possibly wondering when the next shoe might drop? Were you caught up in wondering if the moment were deserved? Did you start being hard on yourself and tell yourself you didn’t deserve it?
Were you busy sharing it on social media? This one is probably the easiest to overcome – decide in advance that you are going to live in the moment and you will share the memories after the event is over. You may find that you enjoy the sharing much more because you lived in the moment, then when reviewing the pictures – you are better able to look at them and have those feelings of joy all over again. It also allows you to articulate exactly what you were feeling in that moment to your audience. Your Tweets can have much more substance behind them after the fact as well. There are of course some events that can still be shared live that don’t require you to be focused solely on feeling something. Learn the difference.
We must learn to back to living in the now and quit complaining about the past. In many situations, we cannot change our past.
Once I asked myself, “If I would have had a better attitude and believed in myself more – would I have taken the Iowa state wrestling championship instead of placing fourth in the state?” I’ll never find out because the past is over. I have chosen to move forward and instead of constantly rehashing the past.
Many people relive the past throughout their entire lives. Maybe that is why I believe in putting 100% effort into whatever I do, and I refuse to question the outcome. If I have truly given it my all, the outcome is what should have happened. Living with “shoulda, woulda, coulda” can consume you if you let it. It will still your joy. Re-train your emotions to stop questioning these things.
Don’t drag your past into your current or future space. Allow it to fade away and come a distant memory and/or chose to see those times as a life lesson that can be passed on to future generations. Our positive and negative experiences make-up who we are today. We can use all our experiences to make better life adjustments and choices.
Remember to appreciate YOUR moments! Share some of your moments with me after the fact and let me know how it felt to be living in that moment.