Right Here. Right Now!

Living In The Moment

Life has always and will always unfold in the present. A good thing I must say. However, there is a dark side to this given the way life will slip some of us by because we are never on the present. So often I have seen friends allow the pleasurable moments to slip away, allowing time to go by unobserved, unseized, unappreciated – you name it. And this is not a good thing. Let me give you a little background of why I am blogging about this. So a few days ago I am at a restaurant having lunch and the song ‘Living In The Moment’ by Jason Mraz (You’ve never heard of it? C’mmon! What do you listen to again? Listen to it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUFs_1vKYlY  ) is playing in the background. As I stare at my plate of Matoke and Beef (not so delicious by the way) the song caught my attention and got me drifting. Part of it goes like 

‘….I will not waste my days
Making up all kinds of ways
To worry 'bout all the things
That will not happen to me ….’

It took me back to those good times back in college when all we did was hang out and read as little as we could. We loved living in the moments. We had fun and I am sure my friends that will read this are witnesses. I can say we came, we saw and we conquered – not entirely sure how this is applicable here but moving on swiftly (or not), we did have the time of our lives, especially in our final year. However, my concern is for the people that went through that life – which was supposed to be super-awesome - full of worries. This is why I am writing – for the one soul that is never at rest in the present. Pretty sure now you get it. It is all about the ‘Right here. Right now’ philosophy.

So let’s dive right into it. You are working but you mind is on vacation. You are on vacation but you are worried about the work that will be waiting for you back at the office. You are supposed to enjoy a present moment but your mind will not let you. There is always something coming up, a deadline, an event, a duty…something. The future worries you too much and you are always trying to change it. Then there is the past, thing you did and the things you did not do that still haunt you. The could-should-may have dones that are constantly killing you.  

Let me bring this closer. You are having coffee at Java and instead of enjoying every sip you make you’re thinking “is this better than what I had last week at Cafe Deli?” You are eating cookies and they are good...really good…They always are by the way… and instead of enjoying the cookies you’re thinking “I hope I don’t run out of cookies”. You are at a concert and everyone is dancing their ass off but what are doing? You are taking pictures and recordings with your phone. I am too sure you won’t get to dance with that phone later. Do these experiences sound familiar? Yes? Good. Not a desirable life you would agree with me. Everyone (you included) pretty much would jump at the chance of living in the moment some can even lecture about it (despite the fact that they do not do it) but the question of ‘how’ comes up.

So before we get to the how I need you to stop judging my proposition of living in the present. Pretty sure you’re sitting there wondering – how about the future? The money I should make? That blue Subaru? I mean will the future be there if I just sink into the present? Shouldn’t I be concerned about that? Well you just have to believe it – Ye of little faith. You make the future great by living moments the right way now. The milestones that you envision are made up of tiny worry-free moments. Now back to the how. Top of the list (I even have a list mahn! Awesome isn’t it?) is that you to stop being too self-conscious. Imagine life as you being on a dance floor. When you start having questions like - are people are judging me? Where should my arms be?  Should I let go? This is when you look like a clown dancing. The trick is to simply let go – the ‘be here right now’ kind of thing. Don’t be that paranoid chic who over-thinks everything. Mark you I never said you zone-out on life because that is very insane. Stay sober, we need thee aye.

Second thing on my list (and probably the last one :) ) is for you to savour the moments. Enjoy the shower and stop worrying about being late for work (if you get fired contact me I can hook you up with a lawyer and we can argue your case from the Human Rights perspective. Yeah that’s right; we all deserve to enjoy a hot shower). Seriously though, enjoy what you are doing at that particular time. Eat that chocolate like you mean it..Don’t just rush through it. Enjoy the walks in the park, by the road or the ‘vichochoros’ you use (that is if you are living along the Kasarani-Mwiki road - I am not targeting anyone here). When you are ‘chilling’ make sure you are really ‘chilling’. When you are talking to people make sure you are there – be present in mind. Breathe deep and slow…don’t be a slave of schedules and times, accept challenges as they come not as you anticipate, be active in the present, be sensible about routine activities, be grateful. Do things slowly and deliberately. And that’s what we call living. Living without Sallendaling (see what I did there? No?).