The moment we are born the clock starts ticking. From then on, our every breath, every moment, every second becomes countable or timed. In fact so great this time is that we go an extra mile to actually celebrate every milestone of our life: birthdays, anniversaries, first day of school, last day of university and so on. But have you ever wondered that this time can be your best friend and also your worst enemy? So, do you give time to time? In other words, if time is spent wisely it acts like your mother-saving you from many troubles. If this time is not used well, then it can out time you. It can either leave you behind or cage you into the worry of the future.
In all of the above discussion, we very easily forget our ‘present’. In actual, all we ever have is the present moment only. So why not keep your ‘present’ your focus, live it well so that your past and future automatically becomes pleasant. Because, this very moment in which you are reading this article will become your past say after five minutes. If you give your full attention to your present (this article) I guarantee if not a successful but at least an impressionable past and future.
Now that I have highlighted how important our ‘now’ is I want to further emphasize on how necessary it is to be fully ‘aware’ of our present moments as well. Let me demonstrate it by giving examples from your own daily life. The examples I will quote pertains to parent-child relationship. So, how many of you (parents) spend some time with your children everyday?
Usually in what ways is that time spent? Do you give your complete attention to your child with patience and tolerance? Do you observe the behaviour of your child: language, gestures, expressions, while he talks? Do you try to read the tone of his voice? Does it occur to you that maybe your child is trying to say something else or hinting at something by covering it up with routine talk? Do you often talk to your child about his interests, fears, dreams, friends, studies etc?
If you are doing all this then you are definitely utilizing all your present moments constructively. As adults we are often so much burdened by life’s other demands that we forget to tune out all the voices inside our head. This makes us give half baked attention to our present as our mind swings like a pendulum between the time bound past and future. First, we ourselves have to practice shutting down the continuous chatter of noises in our head before we even try to understand or communicate with our children. By doing this, children will also notice a marked change in us. They would know that they are being truly heard (without biases) and not just hushed away. In fact parents should also train their children to fully enjoy their present. It is common observation that children get easily disappointed by their past failures which makes them feel so unsure about their future that they end up doing nothing to save their present! See how this cycle works? So stop thinking and start living your moments. If you want to see your child live a moment fully, give him a puzzle to solve, or a riddle and see how he plunges himself into it without getting stuck between the past or future. For a week, practise being fully aware of each moment. Be aware of your breath, of the noises around you, of people around you, sharpen your five senses and see what effect does this have on you.
Stop existing and start living. As a Sufi proverb says: “Timelessness is in you”
Source
(This article is inspired by reading Eckhart Tolle’s book “The Power Of Now”.)