When I first learnt of this concept years ago, my first instinct was that it was reckless and impractical to forget the past and ignore the future. How can we forget our past deeds, and also not worry about our future? After all, don’t we need to worry about our jobs and careers in the future? Or how are we going to pay our bills?

What I discovered however, was that Living in the present moment had far deeper meanings. It teaches us to take immediate control of our lives, and to be conscious and aware of how we are feeling at the present moment. Too often, our minds live either in the past, or in the future, shuttling back and forth between regretting over our past deeds, or worrying about what problems tomorrow may present, and we spend too little time living in the present. We forget that it is in fact always (yes always) the present that we live in – not the past nor the future.

By keeping our minds rooted in the present, we stay focused on what we are currently doing, without the distractions of the past nor the future, and the quality of work that comes out from such a state is often outstanding. More importantly, we don’t live in state of constant worry, and we enjoy the joy and peacefulness of the present.

This is essentially what meditation and mindfulness exercises seek to achieve – the ability to cleanse your thoughts of the past and the future and be conscious of ourselves in the present moment. For people who have engaged in activities where huge concentration is required, such as rock-climbing, painting, et cetera, you might find these to be very meditative and peaceful, and that’s because you are focusing on the present and blocking out the noise.

Lesson 1 – Let go of the past

Living in the present moment does not mean that we should forget about the past. Rather, it teaches us not to let our past circumstances weigh us down and form a baggage that we have to carry. The past is what it is, and we cannot change it. Instead, we should focus our energy on what we can do in the present moment to change the situation for the better. For example, if you have a bad relationship with your family due to some unpleasant event in the past, rather than to live in frustration and perhaps hold grudges, you could instead choose to do something about it now. Right now. You could reconnect with your family and mend your relationship right now; and not have to let this past event weigh you down for the rest of your life.

Let me share with you a tale where two monks who were on a journey ran into a lady at a river. The lady wasn’t able to cross the river, and the monks, having sworn to celibacy, were also not allowed to touch the lady. Nonetheless, the older monk politely offered to carry the lady across the river on his back to which the lady obliged. After crossing the river and dropping her off, the two monks then carried on their journey in silence. After a long while, the other younger monk finally broke his silence and asked the older monk why he had offered to carry the lady across the river and break their vow. The older monk wisely replied : “Oh, I had dropped her off a long time ago… But it looks like you are still carrying her!” – a classic tale of living in the past.

Lesson 2 – Plan for the future, but don’t live in the future

Very often, we’d procrastinate on our work, preferring to take action only in the future, say in a month’s time. The truth is, when a month’s time is up, that future is presented to us as the present moment at that time. We are always living in the present, never in the future. So stop wasting your energy worrying about the future, and instead, focus on the present, and do what you need to do right now to control your future outcomes; the future will probably pan out pretty differently from what you have imagined it to be anyway. I’m not saying that we should not plan for the future. Planning for the future is necessary, but we should not live in the future. In fact, the act of planning for the future is an action that you are taking in the present.

Lesson 3 – The present is all we have

We live in a work full of uncertainty, full of impermanence, where tomorrow may or may not come. The present moment should be cherished as a gift. All too often, people live either in the past or future. We hardly appreciate their present surroundings, their present situations in life, and their present relationships. Whist thinking about the life that we are trying to attain, we often neglect and under-appreciate the present.

Living in the present offers a sense of peace or stillness. Why so? This is because if there is a problem on hand, you will already be fixing it; and if there is a worry in the future, you will already have done all you can to mitigate it and recognize that there is nothing more that you can do; and if there is a baggage from the past, you will have let go of it.

Ways to live in the present moment:
1. Close your eyes, take 3 deep breaths, clear your mind of thoughts, listen to your breath
2. Acknowledge your past deeds
3. Ask yourself “do I have a problem right now?”
4. Reconnect with nature – focus on the sounds of the breeze, the chirping birds, and appreciate the magic of trees
5. Live everyday like it’s your last day