When we fully grasp the importance of the present moment, we can finally shed doubts, fears, and mental blocks. We can let go of the burdens of the past and the anxieties of the future.
Be still and know that I am here.
– Jesus
The present moment is not just a place to experience a quiet, peaceful mind. It goes much deeper, and the impact is much more profound. The present moment is the only time we can truly experience, influence, and appreciate. It’s the only time we have direct control over our thoughts, actions, and reactions.
In the present moment, we have the power to make choices, set intentions, and take meaningful steps toward our goals and aspirations. We can’t change the past, and the only time we can physically accomplish something is right now. We can say we will do something in the future, but the only time it can actually be done is when it is now.
The only time there is – is now.
The past is gone, and the future hasn’t happened.
Tomorrow, which is in the future, will still be now when you get there. If in the past, we had been living in the present, then there wouldn’t be any reason to be living in the past now. We would have detected the lessons to be learned and we would have acknowledged the false beliefs we were carrying. We would be a completely different person right now, who has lived fully and experienced truly. There would be nothing to regret and no baggage to carry. We would have learned and let go, traveled lightly, and arrived in peace.
By living in the present moment, you are experiencing everything in its purest, fullest form. As you are experiencing the now, you are feeling fully, understanding fully, and accepting fully, whatever it is you are experiencing. This means that you are recognizing lessons, learning from those lessons, and moving on without the baggage of missed and unlearned lessons.
Let’s break it all down and finally understand the importance of the present moment.
Experience true feelings of gratitude.
The present moment allows you to feel things much more deeply. Pure, deep gratitude for instance can only be felt in a present moment experience.
Gratitude is the main ingredient in your manifestation recipes. It is gratefulness that brings you more things to be grateful for and it carries with it one of the strongest positive feelings you could ever experience. Allowing yourself to truly experience gratitude for the good things that are in your life right now, is like sending a prepaid envelope to the universe to deliver you more. Those true feelings of gratitude hold far more power than gratitude which is forced, just so you can fulfill your daily requirement.
To practice gratitude, you need to fully feel that gratitude. A feeling of gratitude is extremely hard to fake, and just routinely thinking of things you are thankful for, will not stir up that present-moment feeling of gratefulness. Not only that, when you are not in the present moment, you’re going to miss all those things you should be grateful for. You’re not going to see them because how can you when your mind is on everything else? Your mind is too busy to acknowledge the things that are unfolding in your experience right now.
In this moment, you enjoy what it is you experience. You’re able to enjoy that thing you’re holding in your hand, you enjoy that food that you’re putting into your mouth. You enjoy the comfort of the luxuries and the richness of your surroundings. You are present to notice how very many things you really do have to be thankful for.
Identify and accept lessons learned.
As we learn from and integrate lessons into our consciousness, we free ourselves from the need to repeat them in the future. While in this present moment, it becomes much easier to stay attuned to the lessons embedded in our experience.
The present moment aids us in feeling strongly, the need to learn and to let things go. This allows us to take our negative experiences and realize the part we may have played in them. It prompts us to take responsibility, but also to forgive ourselves because our quiet mind is more attuned to understanding the importance of mistakes on the path of growth.
If we never made mistakes, then how would we learn and grow? How would we shape ourselves into our uniqueness? And if we never stayed present to recognize lessons then we would just repeat the same mistakes over, and over again.
The present moment frees us from missing opportunities for growth, and in turn, reliving our mistakes.
Discover false beliefs.
We live with many false beliefs that have been instilled in us throughout our lives, things we have read, been told, heard, or even just imagined on our own. Busy minds don’t have time to sit still and look at those false beliefs we hold deep inside. Busy minds are too busy placing attention on the surface of matters that are much less important, like the chatter of the mind (often called the ego).
The useless ego chatter is coming from back in the past, or way into the future, reliving hard times, or fearing the ones to come (and they surely will come someday with all that attention on them). This chatter, which is always useless, nonsensical, and robs us of our peace, can be shut down when we see it for what it is. This mind should only warn in the present moment when a true, imminent threat requires a warning.
“The ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence.
– Jiddu Krishnamurti
“Who needs a play-by-play on every single thing we see, hear, smell, touch, or taste? Nobody does – in the present moment, we can just experience it fully – no narration required. The present moment allows us to quiet the chatter and listen for the false beliefs that arise inside of us, without our ego backing up those false beliefs by putting its two cents in. We can then see a false belief for what it really is – untrue, and we can let it go by using our wise minds. Our wise mind is a balance between our rational mind and our emotional mind.
Release fears.
“If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present.”
– Lao Tzu
Fears are born in the past or imagined in the future. Right here and right now there is nothing to fear. This present moment is the only time in which you can react to something, it’s the only time in which you can directly influence your experience.
While we’re in a settled present-moment experience we can look at our fears and see them clearly for what they are. They are almost always unfounded, overblown, ideas that we picked up somewhere, and our egos have worked up into something that feels very real and very intimidating. When viewed with our quiet, wise minds we see they are minute, improbable, fears based on distorted perceptions. Our wise minds can recognize that these fears hold little substance.
Sense synchronicities and nudges toward purpose.
“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.”
– Rumi
When your mind becomes quiet, your fears can be dismantled, and the chattering ego no longer interferes. This can leave you more attuned to the subtle signals and synchronicities that life presents. Staying attuned to those subtle hints can guide us toward our true purpose. Synchronicities can reveal some very important leads that will help you in manifesting as well as navigating through your experience in a positive way.
When you are struggling with incessant mind chatter, worrying about the future, or reliving the past you do not see what is discretely happening around you. You can miss that person on the street, holding up a sign that says, “I have a message from your higher self.” If not paying attention you can miss the sign on a window that says, “Inside is a lead for your new venture”. You won’t notice the person holding the book you’re being nudged to read. You won’t see the billboard that’s flashing the answer to a question you’ve been asking.
The importance of the present moment for manifesting.
In the present moment, you can use those strong present-moment feelings as leverage toward your manifestations. You are required to maintain a high energetic vibrational frequency to have your desires manifest. However, this is not to say that each desire holds a certain level of frequency.
Maintaining a high frequency will simply bring to you, positive desires. By this I mean that money doesn’t hold one vibration and good health holds another vibration, or that love holds another, or success holds another… I mean that positive desires manifest when you are on a positive vibrational frequency. You only need to get to that high vibrational state to receive all the good things that are a match to a high vibrational state.
Coming back to the true feeling of gratitude that can only be felt in a present-moment experience… Gratitude not only brings us to a high vibrational frequency, but it quickly brings us more things to be grateful for. To manifest more efficiently we must practice gratitude daily, even for the things that we have not yet received. In doing this, we can bring desires to fruition by making it seem as if we already have it, hence the universe would have to make it so. Being present in the moment offers many opportunities to notice things we are thankful for.
How to bring your awareness into the present moment.
Bringing yourself into the present moment requires you to be fully aware of yourself and your immediate surroundings.
- Start by taking a few deep breaths. Inhale, hold for 3 seconds and exhale counting to 5.
- Ask yourself how you feel in this moment. Just accept how you feel.
- Put your attention on your body. Look at your hands and rub them together – noticing how that feels.
- Take in your surroundings. Try and use all your senses to anchor yourself – what do you see, hear, smell…
- Each time your mind begins to chatter, just acknowledge, and quiet it. This will train your mind to be still and quiet. It takes practice, but the mind will become more and more quiet over time, for longer periods.
Exercising the mind to quiet the ego.
There are some fun things you can do to try and teach that chattering mind to be still. I once heard Eckhart Tolle say that you can ask yourself “What will my next thought be?” and then watch how long it takes for a thought to come. I do this often and it really can bring stillness for quite some time. Another trick Eckhart speaks of is to sit and view everything around you. Try and keep your mind from narrating as you do. Just view your surroundings without allowing the ego to name each thing you are looking at. You can also exercise the mind to quiet your ego by using mindfulness practices like meditation, journaling, yoga, and mindfulness self-improvement reading.
Conclusion.
Embrace the present moment as a way of life. It empowers us to live our authentic selves and not miss out on opportunities for self-improvement and growth. It allows us to experience life on a much deeper, and more meaningful level. This moment right now is the only time you can impact your experience. This moment is the only time that exists. Let the past go, let the future unfold in response to what you are doing, thinking, feeling, and believing right now.
Remember that true feelings that arise in the present moment are far stronger and much more powerful than trying to build up feelings for manifestation, with an inexperienced thought. I am, is a powerful statement that signifies the belief and feeling of already having what you desire, thereby allowing manifestation to unfold naturally and effectively, without resistance.
I am, is definitive, I am is now, in this present moment. To say I will be, is merely expressing an intention or aspiration toward possibly becoming something in the future. I will be, is hope for a future event. I will be is not definitive.
“Be still and recognize the essence of your true nature.”
– Mooji
