In our fast-paced, high-stress world, almost everyone is trying to find a source of peace and happiness. Often, we look to relationships, career accomplishments, and religion.
Years ago, I read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and everything in my life changed. The Power of Now proposes that we can’t find the peace and happiness we seek in anything outside ourselves. Instead, the only way to find true peace and fulfillment is by being present in each moment. The more you live in the “now,” the more you can connect with your true self and experience life fully.
Since childhood, I have been highly focused. I would set my sights on something and never rest until I had reached my goal. My mom would say, “You have a one-track mind.” I didn’t understand how this “one-track mind” impacted me or anyone else around me. I did not recognize my thoughts or see things from another perspective. It was effortless to control my emotions, but when things tugged at my ego, that’s when things became challenging.
Throughout the years, self-awareness has been complicated. I spent years working to become an enlightened individual. Finally, I saw a therapist to help me connect the dots between my actions and my emotions. I started practicing mindfulness and making it a point to be in the present with whatever I was doing. I began to recognize my thoughts and how they made me feel.
I stopped allowing my emotions to be in the driver’s seat.
A sense of calm has taken over as I reflect on The Power of Now and continue peeling back the layers of my true self. When something makes me uncomfortable, I feel it instantly and take control of my emotions. Allowing what I feel to have its moment but not giving it the microphone or hiding it in the corner. I allow it to come, and then let it go. I think before I speak. I catch and replace judgmental thoughts with positivity.
All these experiences have led me to know the pursuit of happiness that can only come internally through respecting yourself, loving yourself, and giving yourself grace.
As I’ve been living in the moment, I understand how important it is to express gratitude for where I am in life, and for what I have in the here and now. Gratitude helps to ground me in the present and gives me calmness. The power to be happy is deep within all of us. We must peel back the layers and get to know ourselves on levels we didn’t know existed.
How are you working towards living in the moment?
