These Tips Have Helped Us On Our “Living In The Present” Journey
It is normal to think about the past or
We have certainly felt this way in the past. Bruce went through phases of “mind consuming thoughts” when he was living abroad the first time. After thinking about it more and more, he (and now we) have decided that we want to change our behavior and live more in the present moment. This is called mindfulness.
For us, it would be unrealistic to stop thinking and planning ahead for the future altogether. However, there are lots of steps we can take that allow us to live in the present moment more often without sacrificing any future financial stability or other goals.
In the
Live Below Your Means
Admittedly, when thinking or talking about the future it often involves money to some degree. This makes somewhat sense since we are working towards financial stability.. but it can also really distract us from living in the present.
One thing we are aiming to do is to live below our means. This doesn’t mean that we have to scrape by and can’t buy anything. It simply means that we are aiming to spend as much as we need to spend and not spend all the money we have available every month.
This will hopefully allow us to put more money into our savings accounts in the future when we increase our income. At the same time, having low expenses every month takes a lot of the stress and worry about the future away since we know that we could get by for a while even if we lost our jobs/income streams.
Stop Worrying – Or Worry Less
This one is a tough one – especially for Lisa – and we are still working for it. The truth is that most of the time worrying about something won’t change anything – or at least excessively worrying won’t.
Things will happen anyway whether we worry about them or not. So using this energy that we would spend on being worried on something else would be a much better use of our mental capacity. It can be sooo difficult to follow this suggestion at times, but reminding ourselves of it frequently makes it easier.
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Learn To Meditate
Lisa’s mom has been telling her to try meditation for a long time now, but until recently she hasn’t really given it any thought. Meditation can be great for helping you calm your mind and to reconnect with the present moment. There are even some great free meditation apps out there if you don’t know how to start.
We are still at the beginning of our meditation journey so we can’t give you a lot of tips and recommendations yet, but there are lots of people that swear by it. They have seen great benefits from incorporating meditation into their lives.
Many of those practicing meditation in our circles say that it helps them to live in the present since it allows them to start and/or end the day with a calm and peaceful mind that isn’t worried about the past or future.
Be Grateful For What You Have
It is easy to get sucked up into this whirlwind of consumption that makes people feel like they never have enough. Then they are either thinking about the newest gadgets that they don’t have yet and that they need to buy or they are sad that they can’t buy something because it is too expensive.
But it doesn’t have to be like that. Over the last few months, we have tried to become more mindful consumers. We try to assess whether we actually need something or only want something before pretty much every purchase.
We have also learned to be more appreciative of the things and possessions that we already have in our life. This mindset change when it comes to consumption has really helped us to live more in the now instead of constantly thinking about the future and what we are potentially missing out on.
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Focus On The Task At Hand
Trying to focus on the task at hand has been helping us a lot when it comes to living in the moment. We were often guilty of letting our minds wander to other tasks that we still had to accomplish when doing dishes, cleaning the house, or even reading a book.
By focusing on the task that we are doing right now, we have noticed that we are generally less stressed and feel less overwhelmed. That’s a very good foundation for trying to live more in the present moment.
We haven’t done so yet, but it would be interesting to try this concept together with the concept of time blocking. Time blocking essentially means that you are setting time aside for specific tasks and then complete them one after the other. We’ll try it out in the next few weeks and then will give you an update about how it went.
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Learn To Forgive
If you are still feeling resentment towards another person for something that happened in the past, try to forgive and get over it. We know that this is easier said than done, but give it a try.
By frequently analyzing the events that happened in the past, you are not doing yourself any favors. You become unable to live your current life due to lingering negative emotions from the past. It might be difficult, but try to let go of the past – even just a little bit.
Smile
When you are not feeling great anyway, living in the present can be even more difficult. We have
Smiling can help you feel better and help you to get rid of these negative emotions – even just for a little while. You might not be in the mood, but try forcing yourself to smile. It can actually make a difference even when it is forced at first – at least, it has been very helpful for us and we try to smile more often throughout the day.
And there you have it – 7 tips for ways that we strive to live in the present and be more mindful. We don’t always get it right – but when we do, being present, aware, and more at peace is an unbeatable feeling. It’s not BS – it’s just wellness. We hope that this article inspires you to give mindfulness a go and definitely let us know about your journey!
As always, Stay Curious,
-B&L
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