Living in the Moment

My Last post on living in the moment made me think further. So this post, is a continuation of that.

As I said earlier, my thoughts keep fluctuating between past glories / troubles and future worries. It was difficult not to do this. Despite reading / listening to Gita, Bhagavadam etc., where the discourses always emphasised on living in the present, I could not do so. So, my thoughts went into a loop - am I not capable of living  in the present or whats preventing me from doing so. I could see there were times when I was completely not bothered about yesterday or tomorrow and living at the moment. Other times, I was clearly thinking what I would do tomorrow, next month, next year (what a fallacy, knowing fully well that I will not know if I will wake up after a night's sleep). 

But over a period of time, i noticed there were clearly periods of time i was completely living in the moment. I started analysing when this was happening. I could clearly see when I was either running, or cycling or in my gym, I was not thinking of anything else. 

Especially when I was on the road, running or cycling, I was not thinking of anything else. The mind is either blank, or clearly focussed on the activity. No other thoughts. Not even what i would do once i reach home in say 30 minutes. Here, I was clearly not even thinking of the next moment. So why was it and how was it possible. 

The analysis lead to two factors: one - a passionate activity and two physical / mental exertion. When I was passionate about the activity, my thoughts were all about the activity. How fast was i running, what was my timing, how long can i run etc. Similarly during cycling. Also, a physical / mental exertion made me focus on the moment - concentrating on my breathing, being hydrated, or racking my mind for a solution for the problem in hand. 

When I look back, the same was the case when I was working in the corporate world. I used to take it one day at a time, despite having plans for short / medium / long terms, by and large it was always for the day.

I finally found that when you are involved in something which is interesting or passionate, you don't think of the rest of the world or time but just focussed on that activity. 

Perhaps, this is what we need to day in day out. Stay focussed on life. Live for the moment, and yes, it is difficult. 

... And Life goes on

It's been a year since I wrote my last blog post. It was about my friend Ashish Chawla, after he passed away in an untimely manner.

For sometime now, I have been thinking to restart my blog. So here goes.

When I heard that Ashish had passed away, I was shocked. Just 2 weeks prior to that, we had a chat and despite being in hospital, he was still cheerful. I was kind of disturbed for the initial few days. I wanted to do something in his memory. But somehow, things did not work and my initial drive slowed down.

Yes, even death meets its death at the hands of time.

Sometimes time is the healer, other times it is the killer. It makes us forget the difficult times in our lives, so that we can move on. It makes us forget our mistakes, and enables us to repeat them. Yes, the passage of time is both good and bad, depending on our circumstance. This is the best thing, it allows us to lead our lives, move on.

During the last few years, I have had a lot of time on my hands - to think, introspect and judge myself and my acts. Sometimes the result was good and I was happy that I did something good. Sometimes, I used to think that I could have done better. I also had thought of the future - the plans. I would plan for a travel, for getting back my fitness, running a marathon, visit temples. Some materialised, others remained as plans. 

But one of the things that kept coming back at me, despite me thinking of past or future is that why I am not able to live in the present. Why can't I take things as they come on that day. Live in the moment. Is it the fear of the future or of the comforting past? What makes me go back and forth in time. Why can't I be here, now. When I think of some of the teachings of our great philosophers, I keep going to the most important thing that they have said - be in the present. 

We are defined by our thoughts which translates into action. So, being in the present, a mind aware of what's happening now, gives us the best opportunity to take appropriate actions. Living for today, enjoying the small pleasures of life, understanding that problems will not remain as is, is what I think is the best way. For Life goes on, year by year, day by day and minute by minute. 

You can't stop as life goes on.