The Importance Of Living In The Present And Not In The Past

The course we have set from the past to get to where we are today has been engraved in our minds. This “engraving” has a great influence on what we think, what we say and how we act. It also affects the strategies we have to cope with the different situations that life exposes us to. The experiences we have gained, the lessons we have learned, and the people we have known are part of the person we are today. Read on and discover the importance of living in the now.

What we have done in the past defined who we were at the time. But we are not that person anymore. We are the one living today. As humans, we are constantly changing. We change a little bit every single day with every new piece of information we get and every new thing we learn. Change is simply inevitable.

Therefore, we only harm ourselves when we brag about or regret our actions in the past. Guilt is indeed a feeling that, if used appropriately, can help us correct situations in which we have made a mistake. But if we make too much of it and it becomes an obsession, it can become a toxic feeling that can wreak havoc in our lives. That way, guilt will not help us clarify our past.

The past does not exist

When we say that something is unreal, we mean that it is not tangible. We cannot access it, touch it, smell it, see it or hear it. If something cannot be perceived with our five senses, it means that it does not exist in our present life. That doesn’t mean it didn’t even exist, and of course it was very real back then. We know, of course, that these things have happened, but they now exist only in our minds and in our psyche.

For this reason , it is a good exercise to “move” ourselves back into the present again each time our mind travels back to the past. In the same way, our minds are filled with useless anxiety as our minds travel into the future. The only thing that really exists is the here and now. The past and the future exist only in our minds.

One thing is the reality of today, where we have the power to influence things, and another very different thing is the psychological reality . In this reality, some of the actions we perform in the present are not only useless on a practical level, but in fact we destroy ourselves by dwelling on the pains of the past or by worrying about the future. If we are affected today by what happened yesterday, we are losing precious time in the present.

Living in the Now – How Can I Do It?

The first step to truly living in the present is to realize that the past no longer exists. It really was at one point, but not anymore. Therefore , we must stop giving too much value to something that no longer exists. What we can do is use something we learned from the past to help us live in the present. In this way, the past can be useful and remain a part of us. Problems only arise when we dwell on things from the past that do not help us grow.

So when you become aware that you are thinking, “ how it should have been ” or “ it  should not have happened, ” then you need to stop yourself. You have to remind yourself that this is the moment, and that’s how it should be. This exercise, to be practiced in a conscious way, will help you stop living in the past.

Accept that you cannot change the past

Finally, stop doing everything you do in the present that aims to change the past. We must accept that the past cannot be changed – what happened happened for a reason. Whether it was good or bad.

Nor is it worth criticizing or hurting others, begging or dwelling on things that have already happened. The only thing that is positive about the mistakes of the past is what we can learn. That which can help us avoid making the same mistakes again.

So concentrate on living in the now, on what is happening around you, the people you see now, the objects you touch, smell, eat and hear. There is nothing else, at least for now. Live in the present, and free yourself from your past.