Transcript.
Counting down to Christmas, we can’t wait for our summer holidays, looking forward to our retirement…
Why do we want to wish I live away? We focus too much on the future, and hoping that it will be better than the current situation, and that means we are not enjoying the present.
I am the worst offender: when I was a child I couldn’t wait to be a grown up. When I was at school I couldn’t wait to go to university. When I was at University I couldn’t wait to get my degree. When I was in an office job I couldn’t wait to become self-employed.
When I became a message therapist I couldn’t wait to start writing about my experience. Now that I’m a writer what am I looking forward to?
That’s where the problem starts: wishing that time is passing faster and looking forward to an unknown or known reward.
How many times have you looked at your watch today or at the clock hanging on your office wall? How many times have you wished it was the end of your working day? And if you commute to work how much do you wish you could fast forward until you can get home and finally relax?
There is nothing wrong to looking forward to something, however we need to be mindful of our current state of mind. Reminding ourselves of the current moment is important to keep things in perspective. A few minutes of mindful meditation can help us achieve that.
We may be anxious about a future event and in our minds we are imagining worst-case scenarios and disaster scenes. All this mental energy is going to waste. In fact, this precious mental energy could be better deployed to keep ourselves calm and focused so that we can enjoy the present moment.
When you start feeling anxious, worried, or even very excited about your forthcoming holidays, it is good to learn to take a step back and take five minutes to take some deep breaths and tune in to the sensations in your body and reconnect with the current moment.
Ps: I recommend doing this Sophrology exercise to release tension: scrunch up a piece of paper into a ball, breathe in, hold, and as you breathe out throw the ball as far as you can. Do this exercise three times and feel the tension leaving your body.
I took inspiration from this Sophrology video that BeSophro had shared: