When I hear people say life is short I wonder if life is really short. I was trying to understand if the way I lived life in my childhood or adolescent times had some answers. My life then was around home, school, my neighborhood and my grandmother’s house. Although we did the same things again and again and we met the same people, I have a lot to recollect from those times. As I grew older I noticed time was getting shorter and I made less memories compared to the memories I made when I was a little girl.

When I was in college I would wait for gatherings with my friends. When I started to work I was waiting for weekends. My week was not 7 days anymore. It was a weekday or a weekend. When I became a mother my days shrunk even more because I had too much to do or I worried too much. I would wait for my child to fall asleep so I could watch TV or finish up with chores. Well, I spent most of my life waiting for something that would only last for a couple of hours or days. I was only living a small part of my life.

I realized it is not just me. Most of us spend time in hurry, anticipation and worry. Most of us start our day in a rush. We do not have enough time to complete the work on our plate. We are mentally exhausted as millions of thoughts clobber our mind. There is no time to take care of us the way we want to. We are waiting for a vacation or the weekend to enjoy life and the rest of the time is discounted. There is a perception after this things will be ok and I can live happily. How many “after this” or “after that” has come and gone by. Aren’t we wasting the time by postponing to live? It took me a couple of years to understand what living in the present actually means.

For me living in the present means just being at ease with myself. Living in present means to actually jump out of my head and to land on earth. Living in the present is to observe everything around, be curious and explore what all I can do, test my limits and be like a child again.

Being is present is simple. It can start now.

To be in the present is to smell the aroma of your coffee when you take a sip. Feel the warmth of the cup and notice how it makes you feel after a sip.

To be in the present is to taste the ingredients and cherish the food you eat. Have a deep sense of gratitude for how many things would have lost their existence for your survival.

To be in the present is to feel the presence of all the things living around you. Knowing you are not alone even when no one is around you.

To be in the present is to feel the same excitement as your child when the Roly-poly crawls in your palms.

To be in the present is not making anyone or anything important than what you have now.

Life happens even when you not are noticing. Don’t let it sway away. As they say “Life is not short, We just start living it late”.

Experience life every day, every minute, every second 🙂