Living in the Moment and Gratitude

Summary: Don’t spend too much time focusing on goals, or non-stop staying on the ‘grind’. Enjoy every moment, be grateful for what you have in the present.

Sometimes I wonder what life would be like had I done one thing over the other, but then I realise - there’s no point living in fantasies of the past if all we have is the present and the future to look forward to. That being said, the future will never come either, so don’t worry too much about the uncertainties that pervade life.

If you think too much, you eventually forget how to live. You’ll forget to live - sometimes, as with digging deeper into your personal philosophy and exploring your perspective on life, ignorance truly is bliss. Your time and attention are your most valuable assets.

This doesn’t mean that you should ignore the past - scroll up to the section about “Failure is Learning” to read about this.

Check out this video from Shuzo Matsuoka which I think is awesome.

“Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

There’s a good reason why most philosophers are miserable and go insane towards the end of their lives – they notice and think deeply about issues in our world today, but they have no pragmatic means of creating change to these issues. Hence, they delve into despair, madness, and depression.

Never, ever forget to be grateful. Be grateful that you are alive in a time where information is so freely available. Be grateful that you are under a roof, with a full belly and comfortable clothes. Be grateful for your parents, your friends, and your teachers. But most importantly, be grateful for yourself.

When life gets too much, go outside. Look up. Listen to some music. Take a deep breath. Then recognise how you have so much potential and opportunities in front of you. Recognise them and seize the day.

A quote from the 2016 movie Passengers:

“You're not where you want to be. You feel like you're supposed to be somewhere else. Well, say you could snap your fingers and be wherever you wanted to be. I bet you'd still feel this way. Not in the right place. Point is, you can't get so hung up on where you'd rather be that you forget to make the most of where you are. Take a break from worrying what you can't control. Live a little.”

And from Naval (again… I know):

“What if this life is the paradise we were promised, and we're just squandering it?”

What if the grass was greener where you watered it? I write about this here.