All you have is now – miss it and it’s gone

I was reading a blog post recently, “20 Habits of Happy People” and number ten on the list was “Live in the present”.  It reminded me of the journey I’ve been taking over the past six months or so in trying to do just that.

Philosopher and neuroscientist, Sam Harris, in his talk entitled “Death and the Present Moment”, offers an interesting perspective on the present moment; he says:

“It is always now.  However much you feel you may need to plan for the future, to anticipate it, to mitigate risks, the reality of your life is now.

Now this may sound trite, [...] but it’s the truth.  It’s not quite true as a matter of physics; in fact there is no ‘now’ that encompasses the entire universe.   You can’t talk about an event being simultaneously occurring here and one at the same moment occurring in Andromeda. The truth is ‘now’ is not even well defined as a matter of neurology, because we know that inputs to the brain come at different moments; and consciousness is built upon layers of inputs whose timings have to be different.  If you just consider the sensation of touching your finger to your nose: it seems simultaneous, as a matter of conscious experience, but we know that the input from the finger to the sensory cortex must take longer than the input from your nose.  And this is true no matter how short your arms or long your nose!  So the brain buffers these inputs in some way in memory and then promotes the seemingly simultaneity of consciousness.  And so our conscious awareness of the present moment is, in some relevant sense, already a memory.

But as a matter of conscious experience the reality of your life is always now.  And I think this is a liberating truth about the nature of the human mind; in fact I think there’s probably nothing more important to understand about your mind than that, if you want to be happy in this world.

The past is a memory; it’s a thought arising in the present.  The future is merely anticipated; it’s another thought arising now.  What we truly have – is this moment — and this [one].

And we spend most of our lives forgetting this truth; repudiating it, fleeing it, overlooking it.  And the horror is that we succeed.  We manage to never really connect with the present moment and find fulfilment there, because we are continually hoping to become happy in the future.  And the future never arrives.  Even when we think we’re in the present moment we’re in very subtle ways always looking over its shoulder; anticipating what’s coming next.  We’re always solving a problem.  And it’s possible to simply drop your problem.  If only for a moment; and enjoy whatever is true of your life in the present.”

Easily said perhaps; however how do you do it?  Well one  way of being able to ‘drop your problem’ and live more in the present moment is to develop your self-awareness; and one good way to do that is to practise Mindfulness.  Mindfulness helps calm your mind and allows you to become more aware of your thoughts and feelings as they arise.  It gives you the skill to pause, assess situations as they arise and chose the most appropriate behaviour for your desired outcome.

So consciously develop your self-awareness to make sure you’re living in the present and not letting your life pass by without realising it.

“The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no man. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it is called the present.” – from the book “Sun Dials and Roses of Yesterday” by Alice Morse Earle (1902)

http://www.potentialmatters.co.uk/blog/all-you-have-is-now-miss-it-and-its-gone/

Mindfulness Helps Us Understand Our True Personalities

It's easy to have blind spots when examining our own selves and personalities. After all, it's incredibly difficult to judge ourselves in an objective manner. But a new study suggests the best way to really get to know ourselves - without help from rose-colored glasses - is through mindfulness.

The study, published in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science, shows just how mindfulness can help us really know ourselves, without the negative or positive bias.

This is important because "blind spots" in knowing ourselves can spell trouble. "For example, one who overestimates the positivity of his or her personality or status is often disliked by others, whereas having insight into how others perceive the self and acknowledging one's flaws seems to attenuate the negativity of others' impressions," researchers wrote in the study.

Mindfulness helps us to see our authentic selves in two ways: nonjudgmental observation, and attention. Nonjudgmental observation enables people to really get to know themselves without feeling any negative feelings, study researcher Erika Carlson, of Washington University in St. Louis, noted.

Recently, a study conducted by University of Utah researchers showed that mindfulness is linked with greater emotional stability and self control, not to mention better sleep.

"People who reported higher levels of mindfulness described better control over their emotions and behaviors during the day," the researcher of that study, Holly Rau, said in a statement. "In addition, higher mindfulness was associated with lower activation at bedtime, which could have benefits for sleep quality and future ability to manage stress."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/19/mindfulness-understand-personalities_n_2886102.html?utm_hp_ref=gps-mindfulness-research