It is so easy to get lost in thoughts about your past and what you should have done. Our mind can transport you effortlessly to those moments where you perceive you were pleased or to places you think watershed moments occurred, changing your life. They seem so much more significant than the experience available to you today.

The problem with these trips to the past is that if you make them too often, you will find it difficult to enjoy your place right now. The other thief of the moment is the future. Everybody plans for the future. It would be crazy not to, but you cannot put off your happiness to tomorrow, or you will never be happy with what you are doing, the people in your life, or the events you experience. Now is the time you have today; this moment is all you will be guaranteed in life, and it is your obligation to yourself to enjoy it.

Live For Today

As you experience the Time you have today,  there are opportunities to feel alive in the here and now. It can be time spent with a loved one where you share tender moments, or it could be a joke you share with a friend. The simple pleasure of seeing the beauty existing all around you can bring on a  laugh or make your day memorable all on its own. Since these moments are fleeting, a person must be ready and aware to catch them and make them count because they will be gone in a flash. All extraordinary things come with an expiration date. A perfect day must inevitably end, a winning streak will be broken, and the same can be said for bad luck. It will end eventually.

One of the things that I did, which helped me appreciate my experience, was to consciously note everything I noticed that was beautiful on that day. From the sunrise, I witnessed moving from a light orange film barely visible on the horizon to its culminating glory of creating an entire burning sky. The homes were silhouetted by the sunrise, with their chimneys gently puffing their stream of wispy smoke into a crisp winter sky. The list was long, but it allowed me to appreciate what I was experiencing in life, today right now.

Too often take today’s experience and brush it off as something we have to do and don’t appreciate that the new day is a gift. Talk to anyone struggling with a fatal disease and is not sure how many more sunrises they might see. How much o do they appreciate the new day and all of the little things that most of us never even notice? The sound f a car starting, the laugh of a stranger in the distance, the look in the eye of someone who loves you. Love them right back with all that you have. They may b  gone tomorrow.

Focus on The Positive

This life is an endeavor that you can begin right now this moment. Many will say I will do this tomorrow or put it off until the new year, but waiting on the action is a losing proposition, and you know it. Before long, you will convince yourself that you will be happy when x, y, or z finally occurs. What do you o in the meantime? Your mind has a way of distracting you from being delighted by pointing out your flaws, worries, or doubts in the non-stop dialogue in your head, which is less than complimentary to you and often downright corruptive to your skills.

Ignore that foolishness because it all amounts to nothing in the end. When you are dying, will you wish you had only worked a little more, spent less Time with your loved ones, or had less fun? Of course, not look for the things that matter and pay attention to them. Forget the rest. A wise man once said, listen to your heart, and ignore the noise in your head. I believe you will have fewer regrets if you do, and I also think you will enjoy the ride a lot more.

Now, It’s All You Have

Finally, this moment needs to be treasured and appreciated because it is all you have. Looking at the p t is a fun escape, but no matter how long you think, yesterday is gone, and it isn’t coming back. Tomorrow may be g at, but there is no guarantee. Your life could be over in ten seconds. All of these thoughts are just fantasies we entertain ourselves with daily. There is only one thing: you and where you are right now in this moment. The choice to be happy in it, experiencing whatever is happening, is up to you and is exclusively yours and yours alone.

So you can spend your Time worrying about the future or be angry about the past and the supposed slights that others have perpetrated against you, but those choices will only make today less enjoyable. When you think about it, what benefit are you enjoying today less? None that I can see. Look at the day you’re in and what you are experiencing. Touch it, feel it, enjoy it. Now is the only moment  you have.

Enjoy the hell out of each moment you have because they are all you can ever be sure of.

Dream as if you live forever, live as if you’ll die today.

There are seven days a week and someday is not one of them.

A year from now, you will wish you had started today. – Karen Lamb

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.

If not, now then when? If not you, then who? – Robin Sharma

One day you will wake up, and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted. Do it now. – Paulo Coelho

People wait all week for Friday, all year for summer, all life for happiness.

Whatever you want to do, do it now. There are so many tomorrows. -Michael Landon

Do it now. The future is promised to no one.

The best Time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best Time is NOW. – Chinese Proverb

The Time for the action is now. It’s never too late t  do something.