“Most humans are never fully present in the Now, because unconsciously they believe that the next moment must be more important than this one. But then you miss your whole life which is never not the Now.”
— Eckhart tolle
Living in the Now.
You know when you’re 4 and you’re trying to hula hoop, but you can’t so you just drop the hula hoop and wiggle your hips… right it’s absolutely adorable! We’re always in seasons of life without even really noticing it. What was cute and funny ten years ago isn’t so cute and funny anymore. But the beautiful part is that life is never permanent. We grow up and we get to experience the beauty that comes with each age. It breaks my heart to see young girls (or boys) who try and act older. Who try and grow up too fast. Because eventually you will be that age, but you’ll never go back to when you were 4 and it was cute to just awkwardly wiggle your hips and laugh. You’ll never go back to Middle School, experimenting with the weird blue eyeshadow and too much eye liner. Those are times of the past.
One of my favorite quotes by Eckhart Tolle is “Most humans are never fully present in the Now, because unconsciously they believe that the next moment must be more important than this one. But then you miss your whole life which is never not the Now.” How many times do we wish we were 16 and can finally drive, or 18 to be an “adult,” or 21 so we can drink… legally, or graduated, or married, or retired… or? So many times we wish we can grow up faster without realizing we are living the life we once couldn’t wait to live.
Back in early elementary school I remember riding my bike to and from school everyday, and on the days I didn’t have gymnastics or soccer I would go to my friend Hailey’s house where we would run the whole park across from her house. Or other times we’d go inside to feed and bathe our Webkinz. Or even the times we thought we were such rebels when we would “clean the house” in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep. Still laughing at that these days haha. Yeah, it was nothing I considered to be very special or monumental in my life, but these were the regular days of my life when I was 7 that shaped me to who I am today. You never realize how much time passes by when you look at yourself day-by-day. But next thing you know you just finished high school or college. You just bought your first house, or even just got married. And now you’re sitting there thinking when did life go by so fast?
Two years ago as I was leaving my church to a great end of the year messy games that we do with the middle schoolers each year, it dawned on me. A season of my life that I absolutely loved is going to be shortly coming to an end. Two of my best friends graduate this year and are leaving for college. One that is not where I go and also 2 hours away. Maybe that’s not that far for you, but when I see these people, like basically everyday, it hurts to know they are leaving me behind. And as I’m driving back home all I can do is thank God for the wonderful memories that I’ve had with these people. From late night target runs (because there is nothing else to do in a small town), to lake days, to the ultimate Friendsgiving (since my parents left me and my brother on a 6 week trip to Asia and had no family during THANKSGIVING — jk it was absolutely a blast without them hehe). Just so many memories that I will never get back, but will cherish forever. Sometimes you don’t even realize how golden these moments are until they’re over. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t even better memories to come. Life always moves on. Nothing is ever permanent.
When I look at the past seasons of life, I look at what grade I was in, who my best friends were, who I had a crush on, what songs I was listening to on replay. All important parts of life of course, but it becomes so easy to either look back in the past or become anxious about the future. Hardly anybody is living in the Now.
Personally, I’m at the age where all I do is think about my future. What I’m going to do when I graduate college? Where I’m going to work? Where I’m going to live? How am I going to afford adulting? It can really stress a girl out thinking about all the unknown. But I’ll tell you what gets me by. And feel free to take it or leave it. It may not resonate with everyone, but it sure does help me.
Life is just a perception of your reality. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m sure you might’ve heard the whole “life is a simulation” concept, but if you really think about it, there’s no rules on how to live life. Obviously there are laws in placed, many for the wellbeing of everybody, but in reality, there are no rules saying what you must do in life. There are societal norms sure, but nobody said you have to follow them. I would not be here writing this blog if I did not fully believe that I can do whatever I want and say “fuck the societal norms.” If I truly wanted to follow these norms I’ve been taught my whole life I would be sitting on a zoom call at a networking event about career development. But I’ve decided I don’t want to be a data analyst, I want to be a writer. And what do writers do? They write. So I’m writing. Personally I could go on and on about this subject, but that’s not what this blog post is even about.
It’s true. Everything ends and new seasons take place. But if you choose to be aware of life as it is happening and if you’re always fully present in the Now, you’ll see a shift in inner joy and peace within you. You’ll start to be even more thankful for the people around you. You will start to let worry and anxiety lift off of your shoulders. You’ll even realize that when you shift your thoughts and perception, your life will also change. Because life is just a perception of your reality. Therefore you can change your perspective and then change your life.