“Realize DEEPLY that the present moment is all you  ever have.” Eckhart Tolle, spiritual teacher said.

The past can be a very enchanting place for many. It holds moments we treasure forever because of the joy we felt.  But, the past may also hold times we dread because of the awful events that occurred. Whether good or bad, there are many people who are stuck overthinking about the past.

There are times that have had a big impact on us, and now and then we naturally look back and reminisce. My best friend Jailene Mendoza said, “When my grandma passed away, I lost all my motivation, and I was very disorientated.” However, now when she thinks about her, “I get motivated because she will always be a mother to me.”

Freshman Angel Moreno said he is guilty of dwelling on past times. “I do overthink about a part in my past when  my parents were still married, and our family would spend plenty of fun time together,” he said.

Senior Luis Cordoba likes to look back to the beginning of freshman year and all the eventful things he did. He explains, “It reminds me how fast time can fly, and I better stop stressing little things.”

While some people spend the present thinking about the past, others fast forward to the future. Freshman Marcely Osorno thinks about how her life is going to be 20 years from now. She said, “It’s satisfying to me because it keeps me excited because of all the memories I’m going to make.”

Many students like to imagine the future part of their life outside of high school. Sophomore Dashell Martinez can’t wait for high school to end because “I’ll be able to travel all over the world. I don’t know how, but I’ll do it.”

Being in the present moment is becoming one with time, so the mind is not pulled into the future, past, or both. How does one know they are in the present? According to the article titled “How to live in the present moment” on the website Positivepsychologyprogram.com, they state, “Being in the present moment, or the ‘here and now,’ means that we are aware and mindful of what is happening at this very moment. We are not distracted by ruminations on the past or worries about the future but centered in the here and now. All of our attention is focused on the present moment.”

It’s not always easy to be in the now, but it can be a trance

-like experience. Marcella Moret,a sophomore, claimed, “It’s challenging trying to let go of the thoughts that are in the past or the ones that are focusing in the future, but I love being in the present moment when I can.”

Carlos Realgeno, a 10^th grader, said, “When I’m in the present, I listen to all of my surroundings. I just take all the noises in and let them go without becoming attached to anything.”

Britney Martinez, 10^th grader, spends most of her time in the present. She describes it as the moment when one is aligned with one’s surroundings and everything going on.
“When my mind is at one with everything around me, I let each experience come in and out. It’s a very beautiful thing, and one can realize how beautiful everything really is without our mind interfering,” affirms freshman Luis Mendoza.

HOW TO BE HERE NOW

• Focus on your breathing, a word, or a mantra and allowing thoughts to come and go without judgment.
• Be aware of what you are seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching without judgment, then labeling them and letting the sensations pass.
• Allow emotions to be present in yourself without judging or trying to neutralize them; practice the naming/labeling of the emotions, allow them to arise, and let them go just as easily.

Source: https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/present-moment/