We all experience a certain amount of anxiety and depression about our lives, but there is a way to help manage this problem. Living for today, creating clarity and not worrying about tomorrow helps alleviate much of the day-to-day stress of living and lets you experience the raw joy of just being alive.
Living for the day allows you to:
- Experience life to its fullest
- Feel high levels of joy
- Enjoy time with friends and family more fully
- Increase happiness and overall energy
- Less depression and anxiety
The latter point is particularly poignant here: think about where what triggers your depression and anxiety. Are you thinking about problems you have to take care of in the future, such as paying off bills, a huge To Do list?
Ignoring these demands and responsibilities is not the answer but managing your thoughts around them is. They are there and must be managed, however, you can’t take care of everything in your life at once. There are only so many hours in a day and so many days in a week. Did just that statement just notch up your stress? Take a deep breath and stay with me.
Living for today and arranging your daily activities and recreation to meet those demands helps keep you grounded in the present. Creating a greater awareness around what you are feeling in the moment and being present will assist you with the big picture. Let me give you a personal example, I woke up this morning to a great level of stress. I felt stress around my whole day and the time limitations. When I became aware of the stress I was feeling, I utilized specific questions to create clarity around the stress and my day. In other words, I took myself out of my Standard Operating Mode (auto pilot) and focused on my mental state of right here, right now. A brief glimpse of the questions and answers looked like this:
- What is causing my stress? Too much work, not enough time. Although I do have set time today to work on my list.
- What happens if I don’t get it all done? Reality is I can’t get this all done. There are so many hours in the day but I can make a significant dent in my list.
- What is my goal in accomplishing all of this? Clear my brain, and get caught up on work. This time will allow me to accomplish some aspect of that.
- How does the stress assist me right now? Truthfully it doesn’t. If I can let go of the stress I will increase my energy and productivity.
This may seem very basic but creates an awareness about where you are and what you are feeling in this moment. Notice I also added a positive thought to each perspective. This process alone assists with clarity over the situation and the stress you are feeling. I recognized I wasn’t going to get it all done but the clarity and positivity I created gave me the opportunity to minimize my stress and create the high energy day I needed. My presence in the moment raised my happiness level as well. The end result, I enjoyed my day significantly more and accomplished more by releasing the stress. (Remember stress is a huge energy drain.) You can live an active and exciting life that isn’t obsessed with getting it all done when you seek clarity.
You’ll have both feet on the ground and will feel the pure excitement of daily living with or without a long To Do list. Being alive is a miracle, so don’t let it pass you by. The Move It Coach offers individual coaching and group gatherings which are based on getting clarity and understanding your thoughts and decisions. For help learning how to live in the moment or to start a Gathering, please contact us today.