During one of our discussions some days ago, a friend of mine said something that got me thinking, he said "do not live in the past, do not wait for the future." In this era, it looks like a lot of people spend too much time living in so many moments except the present moment. You will see someone always looking back at yesterday, talking about their past mistakes, feeling regrets about the choices they made in the past, and wishing that things were different. Then you will see someone else being anxious about the future, telling themself that they will be happy when things turn out the way they have wished for. What they fail to understand is that the past has already passed, and the future may just remain a concept. They only time they have to take an action that will count is now. When you have mastered the art of living in the now, you will unlock deep happiness and success.
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While I was in school some years back, there was this course that was introduced to our department. The course was a borrowed course from another department, which used to be an elective course for our own department. However, during our own set, it was made compulsory, so we had to register for it. I used to hear people talk about how complex the textbook is and how tough the exam was. So when I registered for the course and got the textbook, I was very anxious about it. I kept telling myself that I would read the textbook when I was ready, but time was going. For about 1 week, I kept deferring it to the future.
After a while, I had to reason within myself, then I made a decision to focus on the moment. Instead of thinking about how to finish the textbook in the future, which kept delaying me from starting, I decided to take it 3 pages per day. With that, I only focused on reading the pages for the day. To my greatest surprise, before the middle of the semester, I had already completed the entire book. What happened was that I focused on the power of the now. If I had been waiting for the future, or for the perfect start, it may have delayed me from starting, or I may not even have started in the first place. This is why you have to take life one day at a time.
A lot of people live their life believing that their existence will begin when they have achieved a certain goal. They think that the future is all that matters, but they tend to forget that they cannot jump into the future. It is actually how you live in the now that will create the kind of future that you desire. If you will channel the energy your use to hope for the future to focus on the moment, you will be surprised what you will achieve. By constantly waiting for the future, you may miss out on the actual moments that really matter to your life. The truth is that the present is the defining moment for the future.
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It is worthy to note that the past should not hold power over your present. One of the enemies of the present is the weight of the past. People tend to carry past mistakes, arguments, heartbreaks, etc, in their heart, and this can affect the decisions they take in the present. Imagine allowing the events that happened years ago to influence your mood and confidence today. What you should understand is that what happened in the past should not stop you from taking a step in the present unless you give it the power.
Each time a new minute comes, it will give you a fresh chance to rewrite your story. I have come to understand that it is only action that lives in the present. While the past can serve as a lesson, you cannot edit it, neither can you undo it. You only have the present to make an impact. You cannot build your dream life in the past, but you have today to build the kind of life you want.
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