Guest Writer: Wemi Opakunle
This morning, as I got ready to start my day, I stood in front of the mirror and went over everything that I wanted for myself, my day and my life. It’s not an unusual habit and I’m sure many people do this time and time again without giving it much attention. I went over things that have happened and things that may or may not happen. I talked things over in my mind –problems and potential solutions alike. It seemed like a never ending conversation. After completing my morning routine of getting dressed, hair and makeup, I had a tiny moment without any thought. I realized in that moment that I had spent the past hour just constantly churning “things” over and over in my mind. I was so absent from the present moment and went through the motions of getting ready without truly being there. It occurred to me that all those thoughts that I was intertwined with in my head were not going to give me back the hour of my life that I just lost “thinking”.
It’s interesting that as human beings, we spend so much time “thinking” about the past and the future and definitely a lot of time “thinking” about things that will never happen. We forget that the past and the future don’t really exist outside of the present moment. No one has ever traveled back to the past and certainly no one has ever been to the future either. This present moment is all that truly exists. Imagine living to be a 100 years old, and then imagine that for 40 or 50 of those years, you were constantly in waiting, constantly thinking about how your life could be better or what would bring you more happiness or make you more complete. That’s half of your life completely gone.
When most people realize how much time they’ve wasted, it’s usually too late. If you’ve asked God for something, ask and then let go. If you love to travel, travel! Don’t wait for the perfect time and perfect partner to make your trip perfect. While on that trip, don’t spend so much time focusing on taking the perfect picture to enjoy at a later time or to post on Facebook just to show your “friends” how awesome your life is. Be and live that moment while in it. Even while performing the most mundane of activities, it’s important to be present. Free your mind from the disease of constant thought and focus on what you’re doing in that moment. Be thankful for that moment. Not only is that time precious, someone else is out there wishing for half of what you have.