Forever is Composed of Now's

Hey angels, welcome back. It’s been a minute since we’ve been together and as always, I appreciate your patience. Today I wanted to write about the importance of living in the moment. Recently, I’ve been reminded of just how often we take these ‘moments’ for granted, based on the assumption that another moment is merely a second away. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want tonight’s blog to be a morbid one, but I do want us to explore just how many precious moments we miss, on the uncertain promise of another opportunity to experience the same happiness or gratitude. I think it’s something that’s taught to us from a young age, right through until adulthood – preparing for further down the line. Whether intentional or not, we’re always working towards the next thing, the next moment, the next milestone and such an outlook inevitably opens the door to overlooked opportunities and missed chances to just experience the now. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel a guilt. I think the ideology of ‘living in the moment’ can, by some, be perceived as a stalling mechanism, and a way for someone to pull themselves out of a task they don’t want to complete. I think being in my 20’s has really exposed the culture of ‘needing to have it all figured out’. I wished my earlier 20’s away to be 25, and as I sit here, a 25 (and 9 months) year old, absolutely nowhere even close to the life-plan the 15 year old me mapped out, it has me thinking just how many moments, days or weeks I’ve wished away, striving for the next big thing, only to realise – I’d probably missed a really lovely thing right underneath my nose. It’s a funny thing, isn’t it? When I really sit and think about it, and think just how much of my life I have lived with the notion that I’ll reap the benefits later. Whether it’s a job, putting in the work now with the hope I’d be able to enjoy more of life further down the line, whether it’s the relationship, keeping thoughts and feelings to myself on the basis it’s ‘too soon’ or ‘may not work out’ – when in actual fact, if we take a minute to look at the situation – there’s so much to be cherished in these very moments that we’re brushing away, wishing away and completely overlooking. I won’t dwell on it too much, but a recurring theme within my blogs is the impact of Social Media. The highlight reel of the lives of strangers, constantly influencing our next move. The growth and influence of social media I think has really shaped what so many of us perceive as success and happiness. The beast of comparison and its thief of joy, prevents so many of us from acknowledging what we have and when we have it. Now, as I said earlier, tonight’s piece wasn’t structured to be a morbid one. This isn’t a reminder that we don’t know what tomorrow brings, but more-so a gentle nudge, to enjoy the moment regardless. Whether the moment is set not to return, or if tomorrow presents us with the very same opportunities, consider this a bonus. What a wonderful thing to have the chance to experience something twice over. Right? My point is, take a second, and I mean really take a second. Stop thinking so far ahead that you lose sight of exactly where and what you are right now. Live in this second, and soak it up. If there's a moment you're really enjoying do all that you can to make it stay. Don't get me wrong, I've been guilty of biting my tongue in fear of it not being the right time, I've been guilty of going against my own wishes through fear that another opportunity may come my way, but in amongst all of that, I learnt: If there's something that makes you smile, let it. If there's a job that doesn't satisfy you anymore, leave it. And if there's someone or something that you love, even if you consider it to be prematurely - love them whole heartedly and unapologetically, and let them know it too. This future we all focus so much on is made up entirely of everything that we're living through now - so be sure to enjoy it. Don't get me wrong, I love to forward think my future. I can't wait to see where I'll end up, but that doesn't mean that I can't also enjoy more of what I'm living through right now. So from this point forward I'm making a pact. A pact to spend more time enjoying and nurturing my now, in the hope that when I look back on what my forever has been, the now's were cherished.

When you don't know what comes next, you can let yourself get lost for a moment - and who knows what kind of wonderful place you may just end up? Thanks for joining me tonight, I hope you've smiled at least once since you've been here. Until next time; Ciao for now, See you on the flipside x