The Importance of Living in the Present

By Darcsunshine

True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach, we just haven’t realized that. The only person who can hurt your happiness in the long run is YOU. Pursuing the things we do not have / the needs we want to satisfy with the attempt to experience happiness and fulfillment through them is a never ending race, without being able to feel true happiness and fulfillment, even when achieving the targeted goals.You will see that as soon as we satisfied one need another need will start to arise, leaving us behind unsatisfied, unfulfilled or not happy. I believe that you shouldn’t make your own happiness dependent on the achievement of the things you currently do not have. Living in the moment, however, allows you to be truly grateful for the wonderful things you have in this very moment, no matter if it is health or the fact that you have a lovely family. You are already able to appreciate and love the very moment, which makes you happy. Furthermore, it helps you to realize that the pursuit of material things or needs with the attempt to find fulfillment and happiness will fail and end in a viscous circle.

“All negativity is caused by an accumulation of psychological time and denial of the present. Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry — all forms of fear — are caused by too much future and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of non-forgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence.”