They say to be spontaneous, to try things you would never have thought of doing before. Step outside your comfort zone, live carefree.
Go skydiving.
Go swimming with sharks.
Be adventurous.
Try something new.
Just let go.
Is it really that simple? To just let go? To free yourself from all the stress and movements of a constantly changing world?
I always say that I need to live in the moment, to slow down and just enjoy where I am at the present moment yet something always holds me back. No matter what, I find myself counting down to something: vacations, breaks, holidays, anything really. It’s exciting, having something to look forward to. But once that exciting thing ends I look back and miss the time of anticipation that led up to it.
There are times to live in the moment and there are times to not. You can’t expect life to happen exactly as you had planned and you can’t just sit and watch it go by.
If you really think about it, the quote “live in the moment” has been so overused that it has become cliche, and almost cheesy. You see Instagram posts and videos on Facebook about people selling their houses and going to travel the world. They are living in the moment. They are being spontaneous, or so it seems.
After reading an article about the pros and cons on seemingly living in the moment, I came to realize that the statement is vague and misleading. When people think of living in the moment, they think of having fun, letting go, and being adventurous. They think of the people of social media who have become famous for documenting the adventurous life that everyone says they want to have. But what happens when you let go of all the responsibilities that come with living in the real world? You can’t just expect life to go your way.
As humans, our top priority it planning. It’s just a natural characteristic. We wake up every morning and plan our day, and then our week. The people who plan admire the spontaneous ones, the people who can live carefree. Yet the people who are structured sometimes wish that they could have some sort of set structure in their life.
What we need is balance. Sure, take some time to plan your day but don’t let it stress you out and don’t let it take you away from spending time with those you care about. And yes, try to live in the moment to enjoy everything that’s going around you.
We’ve all heard it a million times: time flies. Almost everyone you meet will give you the advice to embrace the time that you have, the moment you’re in, and the life that you’re living. So maybe instead of saying to live in the moment, we should just live. Enjoy the present and look forward to the future. Remember the past and use it to decide how you want to live your life. Maybe one day you or I will go skydiving. We will be adventurous. And maybe another day it would be good to sit and plan, make a list of goals. Either way you’ll still be living. And that’s the greatest thing of all.
