Itâs around 9:30 p.m. on a Saturday night and I find myself at a table surrounded by friends. Weâve finished dinner and now weâre sitting around, sharing stories, laughs, and a couple of drinks. I care about everyone around me, but instead of enjoying the moment, Iâm caught up in my head.
âWow, I should really get out of here,â I think. âI have things I want to do tomorrow, and I donât want to be tired. I want to work out in the morning, meet my mother for lunch, and I have that whole list of little errands to run.â
Sometimes, itâs too easy to get caught up in the moment. Other times, itâs easy to hold back and remove yourself from whatâs going on around you because youâre stressing over external factors and that never-ending to-do list. When you sit back and think about it, though, isnât life all about getting caught up in the moment? Arenât those the moments that make up life?
Let me be frank with you. In recent years, I havenât been as adventurous as I used to be. And even at my peak, I wouldnât necessarily say I was Jacques Cousteau. But that being said, I was more willing to forget about tomorrow and seek enjoyment in the moment. Nothing else mattered. Sometimes it led to great times, others Iâd rather forget, but they all contributed to the story of my life.
As you get older you change. You have more on your plate. You might be more health-conscious, more stressed about daily life, or more consumed with the futureâand thatâs fine. Itâs life and thatâs the name of the game. But try not to let your thoughts and concerns about tomorrow cloud your view of whatâs happening right now around you. The activities you enjoy, the time and conversation with friends and familyâor all the other things that may seem insignificantâultimately create your life, help you to de-stress, and allow you to make new memories. When you become obsessed with tomorrow, itâs quite easy to lose touch with the present, where life is happening.
Now, Iâm not suggesting you give up on your goals or lose sight of where youâre going. Iâm simply saying that life is about balancing today with tomorrow. Iâm also saying that people tend to get so busy and bogged down with focusing on what they want that they forget what they already have. All the little interactions you have every day and the good times you have with loved ones arenât always things to gush over, but try to appreciate the little moments.
So next time youâre spending time with friends or playing with the grandchildren and find yourself thinking about something else, stop, refocus, and be aware of where you are, how important it is, and that for the moment, nothing else matters. You might even consider carrying a pen and paper with you or creating a memo on your phone of things to do tomorrow; once youâve written it down, pretend like you have a windshield wiper in your mind and wipe that thought away for the time being. Youâll get to it later.