On one of the last days on the college campus, I went on a walk with my friends. In a nearby park, we were riding on a swing and feeling the sun on our faces. While soothing music played in the background, I told my friend how I will always come back to this place, be it for relaxing or reminiscing the old memories. To this, my friend told me that even if I do come back to the place it won’t be the same as it used to be.
Turns out that we can almost never recreate the same moments. Not because we cannot be at the same place again or we cannot have the same people around again but because we cannot be the same person again.
Turns out that we can almost never recreate the same moments. Not because we cannot be at the same place again or we cannot have the same people around again but because we cannot be the same person again.
This realization makes me want to live every moment of my life truly and consciously.
And is it not very natural? The present moment is all that we have after all.
The conflict in my mind is why do we have to remind ourselves to be conscious? Why do we get so hung up on the things the everyday things that I miss catching up on life?
Something that I tend to do and which shifts my focus away from the present moment is constantly working towards milestones and setting new ones.
Working towards the milestones in life is inherently important. We cannot stop doing it altogether. We definitely need to act to form a better future but that should never be at the expense of our present.
Monumental moments of happiness are not only is it difficult to achieve but also short-lived. Tal Ben-Shahar, a popular Harvard lecturer in positive psychology, became Israeli national squash champion at the age of sixteen. His five years of six-hour daily practices paid off. But once he got home after the victory ceremony, he realized that the joy had worn off and he was left with a feeling of emptiness. He told people that the happiness lasted for only three hours.
The problem with constantly setting ourselves up for milestones is that it shifts the focus away from the journey even when it constitutes 99%. We are definitely setting ourselves up for some serious disappointment if we fixate just on the results because they are not in our hands. A mindset that encourages you to enjoy the journey also while working towards the goal can help us to stay happy and assured.