How to Live in the Present Moment & Stop Overthinking

How I Went from Being a Chronic Overthinker to Learning How to Live in the Present Moment

Live in the present.

Right now.

Be where your feet are. Stop overthinking.

Have you ever stopped, for once, doing your work and thought about what these implications really are? Can you confidently say that you live in the present? Have you wholly and comfortably let go of the past, and are you conveniently and patiently looking forward for the future, at the same time consciously reminding yourself not to waste your today on it?

Have you learned the art of how to live in the present moment?

Let’s discuss.

Life is Happening Right Now

“Most people treat the present moment as if it were an obstacle that they need to overcome. Since the present moment is life itself, it is an insane way to live.”

– Eckhart Tolle

Life is happening right now in the moment you are reading this blog.

Life is happening right now in the moment you are talking to someone, or catching up on an important deadline by giving it your all, or simply just binge-watching your favorite show. Life is happening right now.

Do you live it that way? Do you live in the present—the now—with an effort that comes naturally and doesn’t have to be forced? Are you living this moment with the fervor and freshness that only comes with realizing that you’ll never get this moment back? Because you won’t.

Once it’s gone, it’s gone for good.

You’ll never live this moment again, never be this young again, never walk past this path again. It’s done.

You can’t waste this precious moment like this by being a worrisome over-thinker of the future.

Does that now motivate you enough to start consciously looking at your life and making sure that you aren’t making a huge mistake by either looking too keenly at the past or at the future? Does that motivate you enough to be where your feet are?

How We Waste Time Remembering the Past

“I have realized that the past and future are real illusions; that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is.”

-Alan Watts

The past and the future are just illusions in the never-ending sphere of time. They aren’t real. They don’t happen anywhere except in our mind. The moment the past ends, it’s not real anymore. And if the future hasn’t even begun yet, how do you explain its presence?

Imagine this: We recount an embarrassing incidence that has happened in the past, and we recount it again and again. We think about it, worry, we remember all the humiliating little details. Even if we want to forget it, we just can’t. There’s just something holding us back.

But do you think that just because you remember the detail so vividly, so perfectly, so reluctantly, everyone else does too? Of course not, people probably didn’t even see it that closely to remember it for years. That embarrassing little thing doesn’t exist anymore. It did, in the past, at that very point of time when it happened, and then it was gone, vanished in thin air because it was just another one of the endless moments that make up our life.

Of course you aren’t going to base majority of your life on that one moment, are you?

Because so many of us spend major parts of our days, weeks, or even months regretting moments of the past that don’t even have a significance anymore in our lives—this is just sad.

Those mistakes, those bad memories, the past—that just doesn’t matter. All the mistakes you made in the past, just learn the lesson from them and move on.

How we Waste Energy Overthinking the Future

“Yesterday is but a dream. Tomorrow is only a vision. But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope.”

-Kālidāsa

Suppose you’ve got some important thing coming up that makes you nervous. Maybe in a good way, most probably not. But it makes you nervous, and…you’re letting it.

Or maybe you’re scared about what might happened in the future. Many people are. We all have those things that make us nervous, give us anxiety, lead to sleepless nights, paranoia, overthinking.

Whatever the case might be, it makes you feel hesitant and apprehensive of the future.

Why are you feeling this way?

The future isn’t here yet. That moment in the future that scares you doesn’t exist yet. This doesn’t mean you should stop planning or preparing yourself for the future. You should do that in fact, but you should not let your future define you.

You should live in the present. You should breathe in the present. You should be where your feet are.

Define what happens today in the present.

In Think Like A Monk, Jay Shetty explains what is called selective presence in a compelling way. He explains how even though we understand it’s important to be present all the time, we still have selective presence, willing to be present only at certain times. Think of the moments you actually love, vacations, times spent with friends and family, your favorite TV show. You’re fully present in the moment in those times.

But now, think of the moments you don’t feel so great about; catching up on deadlines, getting busy in your work after the vacation, having a dreadful meeting you’re definitely not looking forward to. You let your mind trail away with distractions and happy thoughts of the future, and of course, the vacation.

“We are training our minds to be where we physically aren’t. If you allow yourself to daydream, you will always be distracted.

Being present is the only way to live a truly rich and full life.”

-Jay Shetty, ‘Think Like A Monk’

The point is to be present all the time, not just during something you like, you have to live every single second of your life, and life is made up of both beautiful moments and the dull ones.

I Was A Chronic Overthinker

I was a chronic over-thinker. (Yeah, does that term exist?)

I think it should, because it’s valid.

Many people who’ve thought about their lives a lot, sometimes more than they’ve lived it, can guarantee that this is true. Chronic overthinkers are people who (over)think all the time: when they’re walking (about something that happened or might happen sometime), talking (does this person like me? What was the meaning of those words they said just now? They sounded rude), reading (Oh my God, do the two lovers get together in the end? There are just so many complications!), trying to sleep (I’ve got a test/interview tomorrow, what’ll happen!?!?!?) …and many more. Chronic overthinkers think about everything (except probably the lovers-getting-together-or-not part. That’s the writers’ department, who are another breed of overthinkers).

My point is that I was a chronic overthinker.

My point is that I’ve changed.

How to Live in the Present Moment

What I want to do instead is not just think about life, but actually live it. Not just think about my past, but rejoice in it and only focus on the good memories. Not just worry about my future or feel scared of it, but actually look forward towards it with excitement.

This is what being in the present makes you feel. Fearless.

You are not wasting your time and energy anymore on negative thoughts, over-analyzing your self-image, thinking hard about what someone said to you in the past. You’re instead using your present time to focus on yourself, your growth, your skills, value-sets.

And it’s helping you because you feel more and more confident in yourself. So now you aren’t afraid of the future anymore. Whatever it will be, you know you’ll survive. More than survive, in fact.

The past has got nothing to do with you. You’ve got nothing to do with the past either. So let it go and let every new moment of your life come with a newness and a kind of freedom.

As Louise Hay briefly said in You Can Heal Your Life, “Would you really dig into yesterday’s garbage to make today’s meal? Do you dig into yesterday’s mental garbage to create today’s experiences?”

Let every moment be a new decider of what you’re going to do now.

Start new as many times as you need to, to finally get to the kind of life you want to reach.

Similarly, the future is still a distant horizon for you, no matter how close it might seem. It’ll be here, surely, no doubt.

But instead of worrying about how to handle it, you should prepare yourself for it. The future will be yours to conquer if you wish. So put your mind to yourself right now.

Nothing else matters in this moment, except that you live it like it won’t come again (because it won’t) and that you are here.

Cues: How to Live in the Present?

• Leave your phone behind and look at the vast world around you. Draw, write about, or simply just observe the world. What’s happening? Where are you? How’s life? Just slow down and feel about it, feel about yourself, feel about living, feel yourself in this moment.
• Sit comfortably and notice yourself breathing. We do it so unconsciously that we don’t even do it properly most of the time. Let the air gush in your stomach, release it slowly. Try guided meditation, and trust me, when you’ll open your eyes after a particularly intense session, the world will feel more awake.
• Let the world move. Let the time pass. Lose yourself in a good story or some activity you enjoy doing. Preferable if you use your hands, feel the texture of the pages on your fingertips, move your fingers and feel the pleasure in the (mental or physical) ache you experience after having worked hard for something.
• Go out into the world and you’ll see someone soon enough who’s only thought is what they’re having for dinner. Help them, and if you can’t, at least feel gratitude for your own blessed life.
• Living in the present moment is all about realizing how illogical it is to waste your life away over something that hols no importance anymore.

You might not have so much success in completely letting go of the worries and overthinking attitude yet, but don’t lose hope; whenever you find your mind straying, gently chide yourself and remind yourself that living in the present is what we all should strive towards.

Conclusion

You are here.

Reading this blog. While you’re already here, why not look at some more things that be helpful to you.

SUGGESTED READS:

How To Stop Overthinking? Train Your Mind and Calm Its Storm

13 Ways How To Get Your Life Back Together (After Losing Your Way)?

7 Beautiful Mantras: Life is Short & Your Dreams Can Come True