I am a huge, huge fan of Oprah Winfrey. I have seen all her shows, I am a regular listener of her Podcast. Those who have heard her podcast will surely know that before starting any Podcast, she says a line “I believe that one of the most valuable gift, you can give yourself is Time. Taking time to be more fully present”. Isn’t it a beautiful line, taking time for yourself.
We all have come across this phrase in our lives one or the other time, but what does it truly mean? Does it mean that sitting idle and doing nothing is what taking time for yourself is or sitting peacefully in one corner of room in a meditation pose fulfils the phrase. I am not a spiritual guru, but I am a strong believer that there is some greater power that hold us all together, you can name it whatever you want, universal power, higher force, infinite force, I call it GOD.
For me ‘Taking time for yourself’ means being fully consciously aware of the present moment. Often, we dwindle between past and future thoughts. Even while working or having a conversation with someone we always have these thoughts playing in the background of our mind “What am I supposed to make for dinner tonight?” or “How could he say that to me?”. We fret over things, over moments that we do not have any control over. For me, ‘Taking time for yourself’ means appreciating things that we consider as futile. If you are playing with your child, rather than just being physically present with him try to be emotionally and consciously with him at that particular moment, try to debar the background thoughts that you have. Being fully present in the moments yield a level of satisfaction and peace that you can never experience with all the background reverie you have.
Being aware of the present moment is like connecting to God, you do not need to say your daily pooja mantras or reading your daily bible verse while your mind is continuously racing ahead with all the thoughts. In my opinion that is not a prayer. A prayer is when you are so emotionally and physically aware of your being at the present moment that your spirit is automatically lifted, and you are connected to the infinite presence that we all know as GOD. If you are chatting with your friend, try to be fully committed to the moment. Do not listen half-heartedly. Do not let your random thoughts about past and future get in between the conversation.
Is being committed to the moment easy? The answer is no, but it’s not impossible to achieve that. A more conscious thought will help us to get in that pragmatic mode. All we need to do is take a long deep breath every time when a random thought is entering our mind and tell our mind to be aware of the current moment.