What does it mean to "be in the present?" Is it important to you to be in the present?

It’s as good as any other daily affirmation.

Makes sense, nein? You don’t want to live in the past with regrets and all, and the future – well, we don’t know what it entails do we?

How does that saying go… the past blah blah, the future blah blah… the punchline is that the present is a present…?

Everything in moderation. You can’t be in the present all the time, because you won’t plan for the future. We’ve all done all of it. I’ve spent money when I knew I shouldn’t have, and regretted it later when I needed it for gas or something.

Being in the present means paying attention to the temporary stuff as well as the permanent. It’s something you need to do when you’re solving problems depending on one or several time factor(s).

Back when my daughter was younger, she use to daydream a lot. Instead of doing her homework, her mind was on the deep end thinking of something entirely different. I would shake her on the shoulder and tell her to come down to earth and to finish her homework.

She was not living in the present, but in a fantasy world out there in la la land.

Being not only aware of what’s going on around me but also being responsive/interactive versus withdrawn or apathetic.

Being in the present moment means just that. Fully present with the what is-ness of the moment. Most people are lost in thought, consumed with the past or future and anywhere and everywhere but here now on the level of conscious awareness. lol

Even when witnessing something there is always a mental label attached, the label/thought of “flower” and then, one is relating to the concept of “flower” instead of being present with the flowers floweriness minus the conceptualized thought form of “flower.”

Sooo…being present, is really just another way of saying paying attention on one level and observing without thought on the other.

It also means recognizing that the only real time is now, past is present gone by and future is simply another mind construct of a time that does not exist and cannot be predicted.

I’ve always been a live in the now type, am not much troubled with past or future, but…I have also enjoyed the benefits of mindfulness practices that keep ones attention in the present moment.

Driving is a great practice…whenever you find your thoughts drifting, a reminder to come back to the present moment, the just this-ness of driving. Just looking, watching the road in a state of alertness. Hey, if you catch yourself even ONE time a day and become aware that you are lost in thought, past, future, five minutes from now and can make a hasty return to the present, well…that’s progress…keep it up and it will become second nature to remind yourself to come back to the moment at hand. :-D

What I interpret this to mean is to experience the present moment for what it is on it’s own unencumbered from the influence of your life’s past experiences and what your own expectations are for a minute, an hour, a day, week or month down the road.

Think of it this way…it is if I allowed all your previous questions and answers to be part of my experiencing this question here it would be vastly different than if I simply read your words here and now for what this simple question of yours is asking me.

Eckhart Tolle wrote a great book on this called “The Power of Now”.

To me it’s the same as ‘living in the moment’; being aware of what you are doing. Focus on the present rather than seeing it through a lens what is to come or what has been.

Can you give an example of when you were “in the present?”
Now. I’m not just thinking of an answer to a question, I’m also typing – I can feel the keys and take time to notice the sound they make. I’m aware of the cat sitting on the couch with me. The squirrels outside. My breathing. The heat of the laptop. At the same time I’m thinking of other things I need to do, I am aware of those thoughts, but I don’t let them interfere with my current task.

Is it important to you to live in the present? Why?
Yes. Because the journey can be just as, or more, important and fulfilling as the destination and there is a lot to see along the way if one is just willing to take the time to look.

What are the consequences of not living in the present?
Moving through life constantly focused on the future or the past ignores the aspect of time in which we have our greatest influence. We miss life as it occurs and the opportunities that come with it.

There is nothing wrong with looking ahead or behind, just so long as you never lose sight of where you are.

A half naked gal bursting out of a big arse birthday cake, now that’s what I call “in the present!”

Being the present means, to me, being aware and engaged in your current setting, not being on autopilot, and not dwelling overly on the past or future. I think it’s good for our mental health to live in the present; gives a greater appreciation of life and less stress.

I’ve hardly lived a day of my life in the present. I’m too forward-thinking. So I’m more qualified to answer your question about the downsides of that. It’s not fair to yourself to not live in the present; you end up cheating yourself of too much. For instance, I’ll say “I’m going to work really hard and get a lot done today so that tomorrow I don’t have as much work.” But tomorrow never comes. Because when tomorrow becomes today I want to work hard again to alleviate the next day’s workload. You become content with less because you think sacrifice now will pay off down the road. Or you just become so fixated on what’s happening next month that you forget to put effort into making this month special. I’m working on being more present. I think it would do me a lot of good. I’m getting better.

Acknowledge the past, but don’t dwell on it-
grow, and evolve.

Absolutely. There isn’t anything else. A quote, “if you’re eating dinner while doing something else, do you taste the food?” Get what I mean? Dwell on the past, you’re dwelling on memory be it true/false. Dwelling in the future you’re dwelling on somethingthat doesn’t exist yet. Dwelling in the present, you create the future with each choice you make. :)

Living in the moment.

As if we had any choice. I prefer to plan and think about the future, and continue to learn from the past, but I’m stuck right here, in the present.

To me it means not being so caught up in the daily drama that you miss what is going on right in front of you. It means observing other people and being aware of nature.

I try to live in the present because the present is all that is really real! Once it’s gone, it’s gone for good. Writing about it is an artifact. It can preserve it but never bring it back to life. But I have to admit that I am really a big dreamer and always projecting into the future, wishing and hoping.
Because of this I need to keep making a conscious effort to live in the present

What does it feel like?
It feels like a heightened sense of things-sight, touch, taste , smell…all your thoughts are directed to what IS in that moment.

An example to me was the 1st birthday party of my best friend’s son. At one moment I sort of stood away from all that was happening observing it. I felt this sense of how wonderful it was that we were still together afterr all the years that have gone by. I felt how lucky I was that I could be there to see the day. It was this rush of feeling I will never forget. A moment when I was totally happy and all was right with the world.

@Earthgirl
Well said, when we are present all IS right with the world. ;-)

To me it is anytime you are acutely aware of yourself and the people and or things around you in a moment.

You know what it means, and yes it’s important to me.

One is never not in the present, of course. Even when lost in reverie, that reverie is unfolding in the present.

My self-concept depends on thoughts of past and future. Without imagining a past and future, the idea of self loses its meaning. Strictly speaking, “I” can’t be “in” the present since “I” appear only with reference to thoughts about how I was and how I will be. In the present, that “I” has no traction, and gets lost in the whole.

But then, even those thoughts of “I” are nothing other than the Present playing at being something else.

@thorninmud “But then, even those thoughts of “I” are nothing other than the Present playing at being something else.”

Can you explain this, please? It sounds like you’re saying we are in the present when we are in the past or the future in our imaginations. If so, why do people suggest we be in the present? Is it a matter of degree?

Great example of living in the moment…
My nephew: “I have a present for you”
Me: OH! Ok, what is it?”
My nephew: PULL MY FINGER!!

I don’t want to live in that now, but I’ve got no choice do I
What a fricken brat! No I did not fall for it TY

@wundayatta Let me try to explain with an analogy.

When you’re dreaming, you have the illusion of being a character in some particular scenario. You are in that dreamed world, or at least that’s the strong impression you have. The reality, of course, is quite different. That whole world is none other than the play of a sleeping brain, and that brain, in turn, is densely interconnected with a larger reality.

That dream can be seen from two perspectives. On one hand, it is a fiction; the events and beings in the dream are illusory, and in the morning their brief dance across the stage of our awareness will likely be forgotten. On the other hand, seen as the functioning of a real brain seamlessly integrated with reality writ large, that dream is not something other than an escapade of that larger reality.

The “you” in the dream is not really you. That’s easy enough to accept. We have no problem understanding that even as the brain is imagining another version of “you” operating in some other elsewhere, the “real you” is safe in bed, sleeping away. That’s difficult to accept from within the context of the dream, but we can clearly see it from the perspective of wakefulness.

Just as true, though harder to understand, is that the “you” who you remember being, and the “you” who’s future you’re planning, are also just characters in a fantasy spun by that larger reality. From within that fantasy, this is difficult to accept. It only becomes obvious from a perspective that sees the fantasy in its setting within the larger reality.

That perspective is only gained by disassociating oneself from that fantasy of past and future. That doesn’t mean instead constructing a fantasy about being “in” the present. It means letting go of ideas about being “in” anything at all. If we are anything at all, we are the present, including its little fantasies about past and future.

Like recognizing that the fantasy is a fantasy, not real? Recognizing that memories or hopes and dreams are just actions of our minds, not real things, nor even things that should be enjoyed because they might become real one day; rather, without any expectation of attaining reality?

I don’t see much sense in regarding thoughts about past and future as something to avoid. They serve a limited purpose, as do dreams.

Past and future are like little sideshows contained within this present. Even while indulging in the diversion that the sideshows offer, one isn’t separate from the present. One is just the present reveling in its sideshow.

But the sideshow isn’t always lighthearted entertainment. Past and future have their dark sides, too. They entrain all of the anguish that comes with defending a self through the vicissitudes of life. Here’s where recalling the larger perspective brings relief.

I guess I’d put it this way: the eternal present loves to get lost in its dreams of past and future, with all of its pleasures and fears and ideas of self. But occasionally, it wakes up. Then it sees that it was always just this present.

To enjoy your present as in the future it will soon be your past.
Time appears to slip away.
In no time your kids are grown up,and you are older.
I spent so much time worrying and working three jobs to maintain an existence, that I never had the time then to relax and enjoy the present.
The economy made it so.
If I had security and so on then I would had been able to sit back and enjoy and live each moment to the fullest.
Life does not always work out for everyone.
However I am enjoying my later years, the best that I can.