How to be centered in the present moment

I decided that I was going to stencil the new planter for my office.

I recently moved to a new office and I bought a new plant and a planter to put it in. But the planter was quite plain, and I wanted to give it some pizzazz, so I decided to stencil it myself. 

I settled on using a silver spray paint that we had at home and then I started doing the stencils with some thick paper. I patiently designed and cut out all the stencils and then I stuck them to the planter all around making sure they were straight and matching with each other on the edges. 

I taped the areas of the pot that were not covered with the paper and then I was ready to paint … I grabbed the spray paint can, shake it and the spray on the planter was done in less than one minute! 

It took me about 1 hour to get the planter stencils designed, cut out, done and set up, to tape the pot, to cover the floor where I was going to spray the pot, all of it for a one-minute paint application! 

After I did it, it got me thinking, isn’t this the same with everything in life? All the preparation, the study, the training, it takes a long time compared to the final goal that we want to achieve. 

The test lasts only a few hours, but you need to prepare for days and even months, the competition is a few hours, but you trained for months, sometimes for years… your goals and achievements are short-lived, but the journey to achieve them is what actually makes your life. 

That’s why it’s so important to realize that you need to enjoy the journey, that you need to keep the goal in mind, but your seconds, minutes, hours and days working towards the goal are what you need to savor and squeeze to the maximum because these are the precious moments that will create your life. 

Of course, the accomplishment of the goal is significant, but I believe the journey to get there is even more important. If you don’t realize this, you could achieve the goal and be disappointed because it happened so quickly and now you feel empty.  

It’s happened to me before, while I was studying in high school and at the university. I was so focused on passing the tests that I didn't take any pleasure on the time I was studying. My only focus was taking the test and passing.

Sad to say, looking back now, I wasn't focused on learning, just in passing, in getting that checkmark and it took out all the pleasure from my experience.

If I could tell something to myself when I was studying, I would share with me this tip, to enjoy the journey, to savor the moments and to relish each minute. I would tell myself that getting a checkmark is fine but enjoying and learning while you get there is more important because that’s all you take with you at the end. 

Thankfully, even though it has taken me a few years, I finally realized that.

Now, I purposely stop and think what is it that I look for and I make sure I enjoy every minute.

I found out that one thing that works for me and keeps me centered in the present moment instead of the future is to repeat to myself “I am present, here and now”.

This simple sentence works for me, it brings me down from the future to the now. And it keeps me focused, reminding me that all that I have is here now, and that this moment is the one I need to be present to fully enjoy life while I keep on moving forward. 

Now, tell me. Have you experienced the feeling of emptiness once you reached a goal that you were working hard for?

Did you focus so much in something that you wanted to achieve that you forgot to enjoy the journey to get there?

Have you tried creating your own mantra and repeating it to yourself whenever you catch yourself escaping to the future goal instead of the present moment. Try it out, write it out in a post-it note, in the mirror, keep it you you in your office, at home, in the car… See if that helps you to come back to your center and let me know if it works!

xoxo,

Sofia