New year, new mindset, right?

I completely agree. I think with 2017 starting, along with our goals to eat healthier and go to the gym more, we should also look at life through a healthier mindset.

It's been one month in, and some of those goals have faded, and even if that has discouraged you I'd still like to remind you of how crucial it is to focus on how you're looking at your life.

I recently finished reading a book to help guide in spiritual enlightenment, "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle. This is an amazing piece, and I highly recommend getting it. I'm going to be using it as a short guide to show you how you can change your outlook on life and truly live in the present moment, despite how it is currently.

The difference between clock time and psychological time.

These two are very different, yet most of the time we get intertwined into both. Psychological time is when we project what has occurred in our past and continue to bring its baggage into our future. Setting goals and learning from past mistakes or endeavors can be important, but it's crucial that we do not perceive it as psychological time when it's simply clock time.

We must be aware of this and continue to live in the "Now," as Tolle says, or presently. Don't become deep-set in your past or hooked on your future, all a person has is right now. A person who is aware of this is living in the present moment and is still very much aware of the external time. Setting goals and being aware of working towards them is all done in clock time.

Focusing on the stillness of your being.

When was the last time you sat in nature, completely still and just listened? To birds chirping, leaves crunching underneath you, or a stream nearby...It probably sounds cliché to some, but to be aware of the Now the mind needs to be still. Put down personal problems for 10-15 minutes and just focus on the moment- right now. Truly listen to the world around you, and find your presence through all of it. Otherwise you "will see but not see, hear but not hear."

Let's be honest, there is a lot of heat and controversy going on in the world, especially with this recent presidential election. I've noticed that with worldly or national events, a nation can get stuck on that and forget to live in the Now. Being attentive and fully present at every moment feels electrifying, and everything in the senses is magnified. If we all take even 10-15 minutes out of our day to be present in right now, who knows what we might overcome?

"Your life journey is no longer an adventure, just an obsessive need to arrive, to attain, to "make it". You no longer see or smell the flowers by the wayside either, nor are you aware of the beauty and the miracle of life that unfolds all around you when you are present in the Now." -Tolle

I hope that I at least made you think about "living in the now" a little bit more and that you continue to carry on living your blossoming life in this way. The past is the past, the future is the future, and all we have is right now.