The Art of Living the Present Moment

Recently, I had a profound conversation with my daughter about how different life is today compared to twenty years ago. Before, she recalled how we would go on a week or so of vacation come Christmas  and Lenten seasons. This past year has been different. The days before Christmas I was busy meeting deadlines as we wrapped up the year-end projects at work. Come January 2, I was already neck deep in meetings.

In her case, she continues to work at home, writing short stories and attending to her on line business, then getting back to school for a number of units she still has to earn before graduation. Wistfully I started to ask myself, are we really living and enjoying life as we should. There has been a radical shift in terms of how we lived life then and now. And yet the global environment and technology that brought these changes about have become crucial to our comfort and convenience.

COPING WITH CHANGE

Amidst all these changes at work (in fact work is no longer confined to the office or factory) how does the average working man or woman cope? Or thrive and succeed? How does one adjust psychologically to the flow of fast moving external events and changes?

William Bridges writing of transitions talked about the three distinct phases of endings, neutral zone and new beginnings. While the external change may have happened, it is in the make-up of man to cling to his/her comfort zone. To change s/he has to desire to end certain habits and ways. Then moves into the neutral zone where s/ he is caught in between letting go of the past and embracing the new. Finally, he climbs to the new beginnings. But how does one manage a stream of changes? Can man flex to change and still live a challenging and serene life?

LIVE THE PRESENT MOMENT

Amidst all the turmoil and complexity you might think we need to pursue expensive solutions. One remedy that has worked for me, that is simple but requires a lot of discipline is “ living the present moment”. It is a way of life and philosophy that mystics and profound thinkers of the great religions have recommended.

Living the present moment means living to the fullest the task in front of you, or listening with complete mindfulness to the person in front of you or expressing with clarity an idea that you are sharing in a meeting. It means forgetting in the moment the past and the future and live completely and enjoy the moment.

                                                               

ONE MINUTE MANAGEMENT

Some years back, a management writer recommended a technique called “ one minute management”. If we truly live the present moment, then one minute is precious. One can praise an employee in one minute, or give a corrective action in a minute. It is when we carry in our heads several tasks at the same time that we fail to accomplish anything worthwhile. Precisely, in this age of multi-tasking, do we need to focus at the single task in front of us. Living the present moment means doing that job or task with perfection, precision and completion. This enables us to do quality work, making every piece of work a masterpiece. Work then truly becomes an art if we put 100% of our attention to it. In fact, one writer noted that all artful work is in fact spiritual work.

SPIRITUAL FOUNDATION

My first encounter with “living the present moment” was coming across a book of Chiara Lubich “Yes, yes. No, no”. Lubich the founder and leader of the Focolare Movement writes, "The gospel itself focuses man on the present, not wanting him to be worried about the future. It makes him ask for bread from the Father just for today. It invites him to carry only today’s cross and that each day has troubles enough of its own. To get used to living the present well, one must know how to forget the past and how not to be worried about the future. This makes sense since the past exists no more and the future will be when it becomes present.”

Chiara’s book also cites Evdokimov, an Orthodox theologian explaining modern man’s alienation. He says. “The man of this world lives in the past, in his memories as he awaits the future. As regards the present moment he tries to avoid it. He tries to kill time. This man does not live in the here and now. The hour you are living, the job you are doing, the person you are meeting at this moment are the most important for your whole life.”

PLANNING AND LIVING THE PRESENT

Someone may ask, but is it not essential for every person today to plan for the future or plan for the day. How do we respond to our multiple roles and responsibilities if we do not plan? Living the present moment does not mean forgetting or neglecting to plan. In fact a written plan helps us live the present moment well. Our daily plan enables us to face each job, each meeting, each phone call with simplicity, peace and serenity. It enables us to achieve more with less stress on the job.

Flexibility is also required. Sometimes we get too hang up or attached to our schedule feeling upset when we have to make a change. We have to flex  and open ourselves to changes that may happen during the day. Welcome an unexpected call from a customer. Or jump into an opportunity to help a staff who comes to you with a difficult situation. The trick is to jump into the present moment. For example actively listening will enable your office mate to share ideas well if you listen with rapt attention and together easily find solutions. Afterwards, one can always go back to the do list in a peaceful and natural next moment.

KEY TO MANAGING CHANGE

Living the present moment is the key to managing the variety of changes around us. It enables us to adapt the change paradigm to be proactive rather than reactive, to be flexible rather than rigid, to be responsible rather than feel a victim of change.

Try living the present moment well and you will see how quickly you can cope with the speed of change. It will help you relish and enjoy life at work or at home.