Mental Health
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Why Living in the Now Makes You More Resilient

Lesson 1

Living in the now stops the mental chatter that consistently goes on in your mind. This chatter is what keeps you thinking about what happened yesterday, what’s going to go on at work tomorrow and all the hundred and one responsibilities you have on your plate.


When you’re fully present, the things that you do right now become your goal rather than being the destination. For example, this could be something like learning to play a new instrument. You spend time enjoying the practice and the art of learning rather than focusing your attention on the complex song that you want to be able to play once you learn the instrument.


You’ll learn to eat less but enjoy more. When you feel the strong desire to go and get a snack or you want something you know isn’t good for you, living in the now helps you to overcome these cravings.

It does this because you realize all you have to make it through is this moment. You don’t have to worry about what you’re going to do for tomorrow’s mid-morning junk food hunger pangs.


Each little moment of the new becomes its own success story. That empowers you and makes you more resilient so you’re able to handle the next difficulty that arises.


If you have a goal to lose weight, living in the now helps you not to focus on the entire twenty pounds. Instead, you can focus on losing what you can today, one pound at a time. You keep your attention on what you’re eating now, what exercises you’re doing today.


You don’t worry about how you’re going to beat a future plateau. Mindfulness allows you to enjoy what you eat, to feel the texture, to appreciate the aroma and to delight in the taste. You enjoy your food more when you live in the now.


Change becomes easier. Just focus on one little change at a time. In the end, the little changes add up to successfully reaching your goal. Living in the now helps you stay in control. It also helps you overcome self-defeating thoughts and habits such as drinking too much, smoking, skipping sleep, or skipping meals.


Taking care of yourself becomes more doable when you’re living in the now. You can concentrate on one healthy action at a time. Eating a healthy snack, going to bed earlier, or walking around the block today are good examples.


You don’t have to concentrate on making sure you get to the gym every single day of the week. All you have to put your focus on is working out today. You don’t even have to focus on making sure you exercise for thirty minutes. You just complete whatever exercise you’re doing during the moment.


Reaching your goals will become easier. You’ll be able to make your plans by focusing on which step you have to do right now. You don’t have to have all the answers today. You simply need the first step.


That first step is what leads you to being able to handle whatever it is you want to do in life.

This will help you stop feeling overwhelmed with large projects.


Instead, you’ll choose to look at the small steps and accomplish those, which become a completed project.


As you develop this resilience, you can quickly learn how to understand yourself. This helps you to stop living with stress or worry or anxiety about situations.


When you feel upset about something, take a moment to focus on yourself. If you feel dread or fear, take a deep breath and allow your subconscious to come to the forefront of your mind. You’ll be able to connect the emotion with the thought that was used to create it.

 

For example, you may realize that you felt dread after hearing your partner mention that layoffs were happening at his or her place of employment. When you focus on connecting that information with the present emotion and physical reaction, it’ll help you to see that your dread isn’t permanent.


By addressing it, you’ll be able to let it go rather than allow the dread to continue to build to the point where you feel fearful about your future.


Let resilience improve the moments in your life. When you live in the now, it can help you to become more aware of what you’re doing that could have a negative effect.


For example, hitting the snooze button repeatedly can cause you to sleep in, wake feeling groggy, and leave you rushing around in the morning in order to get to your job or school.


By being mindful, you’re aware of the value of your time. You become aware of how one moment affects the next.

How to Become Resilient through Mindfulness

The first way to become resilient through mindfulness is to refuse to see a problem as unending. When problems or negative situations occur in your life, don’t fall into the trap of believing that they’re going to last forever. This lets a hopeless mindset develop.


When you have problems, they can sometimes interfere with your life plans or impede your goals. However, you shouldn’t give up and quit going after what you want. If you do that, you’re effectively saying that your problems are bigger than your ability to overcome them.


Develop the mindset of “this is temporary.” List ways or action steps that you can take to overcome the situation. Next, embrace change. If there’s one guarantee in life it’s that is that no two days are the same.

You might plan to live in the city then you lose your job and the opportunity that opened up for you is on the other coast. When you embrace change, you’re open to opportunities even though they may not always appear in the way you hoped they would.


The third way to become resilient is to refuse to sit still. When you want something in life or you have a dream, don’t allow inaction to take it from you. Every day, do something that takes you closer to achieving your goal.


If your goal is to own your own business, this might be something like signing up for a business class or writing out a business plan. If you want to get healthier, it could be something simple such as getting rid of the food in your house that causes you to binge eat.


The next thing you should do is make decisions sooner rather than later. Avoidance doesn’t solve issues and it doesn’t get you where you need to be. If there’s a relationship issue, you need to handle, do it. If you’re interested in talking to someone, make a move and speak up.


While you’re making decisions, resolve to change your self-view. Many people think far less of themselves than they should. You downplay your accomplishments. You look at the negative things about yourself by thinking you’re too awkward, too big, or too small.


You don’t like the way you look, the way you voice sounds. However, by learning how to think of yourself in a positive way, you bolster not only your self-esteem but your belief that you can achieve whatever you set your mind to.


Finally, negative things happen, look for the positive. There’s always something good to find about everything that happens.


However, the problem is that most people focus on the negative and then miss the good. That’s not to say that everything that comes into your life will feel good but it can work out for your good.

How Living in the Now Leads to Inner Peace

Peace is something that many people are missing in their lives. You don’t have to live that way. When you live in the now, it can lead to inner peace.


You can find the calm that you’re looking for.

Start by dialing it back.

You don’t have to be everything to everyone.​

You don’t have to be available all the time and you don’t have to let social media rule your day.

Give yourself limits to how much time you’ll give things or people that drain you.


Next, make a date with relaxation. This might mean listening to music, using visualization, or meditation. It might mean taking off for an afternoon to do nothing but just relax.

 

While you’re at it, don’t use a wide-angle view of your life. When you look at everything at once, it can create inner panic. This can happen with both bad things or good things.


Ask yourself how important the situation is on a scale of one to ten. Then ask yourself if what’s happening will still be important to you a year down the road. This will help you keep your perspective, no matter what happens.


Another way to find inner peace is to stop rushing. When you’re in a hurry, it affects your outlook and creates stress. Take your time as you go through your day. Be present when you eat, laugh, and love. When you stop the rush, you’ll find that inner peace blooms.


Next, beware of the things that own you. When you have too much stuff, you waste your peace trying to take care of it and you end up letting your things encroach your space. When your home or office is filled with things that nag at your mind, it creates mental chaos and steals peace. Let go of things you don’t need or want.


If you struggle to release an object, consider taking a photo of it. Then you can keep the photo but let go of the object. Remind yourself as you do this that you’re giving a second life to the object by passing it on to someone else to be loved and cared for.


The final way to keep your inner peace is to focus on a “this moment” mantra in your mind. When thoughts about what you should do in the future crop up and you get that tight feeling in your stomach, say to yourself, “I only have to deal with this moment.”

A Better, More Successful Life Can Be Yours

Living in the moment might feel difficult at first. That’s only because it’s a new thing and sometimes, new things feel scary. Just like learning to ride a bicycle, it gets easier the more you do it. If you keep trying, you’ll be putting your hands up and enjoying the ride in no time at all!

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