Presence

The present is beautiful. And yet so many of us let it slip by unnoticed. Too wrapped up in what might happen next, thinking we have to figure it all out, when all we really have to do is exist in the present moment. In doing so, the future will take care of itself.

When we sit and observe our thoughts, we give ourselves the opportunity to see how trivial our thoughts really are. We can recognize that nothing in the present moment is all that bad. And, with practice, we can take that feeling with us anywhere we go.

Alas, the default for so many of us is to worry. To give our brains something, anything, to mull over. But this pattern of behaviour is detrimental to us in a multitude of ways. It prevents us from engaging with that which is right in front of us, it leaves us mentally exhausted for when we actually need to use our brains, and every time we worry we further enforce the habit and thus continue to worry. It does no good to say, “Stop worrying!” That will only add to our frustrations, as it gives us one more thing to worry about. But the remedy is easy, do nothing at all.

Simply sit and observe. Feel our breath, witness our thoughts, get lost in the present moment. Worries will still bubble to the surface, but through sitting and breathing we can cultivate our ability to witness the worries for what they are—deranged thought experiments—and can get back to the present moment. We can get back to the beauty of now.