Live in the now? Get serious will ya? I’ve got bills to pay, college tuition looming, retirement around the corner, health issues, aging parents, etc… I need to plan for the future with a fury. After all, the TV tells me so. No one would likely argue with you either. The future is important and we need to be prepared, right? Did you know that the emotion most experienced daily in America is anxiety? What has everyone so anxious? It’s the worry about the future. It’s been estimated that 96% of Americans are not prepared financially to retire. Nearly 60 percent of Americans, the highest ever, are taking prescription drugs. Statistically speaking if you’re a man, you’ll be dead within 5 years of your retirement. When your time comes, how many of your worldly possessions are you taking with you? I certainly don’t want to tell you how to live your life and what to focus on but I feel compelled to share with you perhaps a better way to find the peace in your life while building a solid future.
Now, back to the “live in the now” statement. Are you one of those people who’s always somewhere else in your mind? Many are walking around with their body while their head is going somewhere else. For example, have you ever driven to work and forgot the entire ride, like you were on some sort of autopilot? Have you ever felt like connecting with your significant other but are rejected because they’re miles away in their head. How does it feel? I’ll bet it feels lonely and prompts you to act in defiant ways. Maybe you go shopping and spend money you shouldn’t, maybe you get quiet and look to punish them for how they made you feel. Worse than that, perhaps you focus on someone else who is willing to be in the moment with you.
Living in the moment is just rhetoric for most but if you try it you might find that you’re truly living. Think about life for a minute. What is it? Is it tomorrow or the next day? You have no idea if you’ll even be here tomorrow. Is it the past? Well nobody can go backwards in time. Life is happening right now. That’s it. Even as you read this blog, this is your life. All the worrying in the world is not going to change your past or your future. What it’s likely to do is kill your life experience.
In the end, I hope that you will look back on your life as a bunch of moments all strung together. If you become truly present in a moment, you will finally have your finger on the pulse of life. If each moment becomes the next, then your future is actually predicated on the moment that you’re in right now. Learn to become present and take care of the moment you’re in.
Imagine you had a loving intimate connection with your spouse last night. You just overcame a difficult situation in your marriage and now you’re making up! Now that’s a moment that most of us yearn for. That incredible moment will soon become the next moment in your life. Try taking better care of each moment so that the next moment is equally amazing. This is how the future unfolds. Not every moment is going to feel wonderful but then again no one said it would. To experience the highest highs you must endure the lowest lows and vice versa. Life’s not out to get you. Live in your present moment and see just how blessed you are. At some point, the moments run out. Until then, cherish each one and let the future take care of itself.
Dr. Peter Percuoco is a Board Certified Chiropractic Neurologist and a Keynote Speaker. With 27 years of experience, Dr. Percuoco has stepped out of the clinic and onto the stage to share his message of hope and potential inspiring people to be the best that they can be.
