Being Present- The Benefits of Thinking About Today

In the past month or so, I've hinted at the idea of being present and mindful. I talked about it in my post about being content, as well as in my newsletter. But even though there is a lot of overlap between contentedness and being present and mindful, it isn't exactly the same thing.

Contentedness is being happy with where we are and not wishing away our lives for something better". Contentedness says, "I may not like my situation right now, but I am going to accept where I am at and be okay with it".

Being present, on the other hand, says "I may or may not like where I am, but I am not going to waste the time I have. I will be available now. I will live life with passion now- not just when I like my circumstances. I am here and I will live well now, and I will enjoy the blessings in my life now".

Being present means putting down our smart phones to spend more time with our family. It means turning off the TV and having a real conversation with our spouse. It means calling our mom to see how she's doing instead of spending that extra 30 minutes reading a magazine. It means sitting down and working on that ebook now instead of saying we'll do it "eventually". It means budgeting our finances and giving to those in need now instead of just thinking that it would be a nice thing to do. It means getting off of Facebook and meeting a friend for coffee instead.

Being present is something that we need to grow in, because if we don't, we'll turn around one day and realize that we wasted a whole lot of blessings. We spend so much time dreaming of what's next, so much time doing "important things" on our smart phones, and so much time glued to Netflix that we miss out on what it's important in the moment. We miss out on the beautiful people, places, and meaning things that are staring us in the face right now.

If we continue on that path, we are going to wake up one day with a whole lot of regret. But if we choose mindfulness and being present, we will most certainly be glad that we did. So today, I'm laying out a few of the benefits of being present, in hopes that we will all be convinced to adopt the habit.

Being Present Acknowledges the Blessing of Today

I touched on this a little bit already, but being present is partially about realizing that what we have now is a gift. When we aren't present, we are basically telling God that we aren't thankful for today. We don't care about the gift we've been given and we don't intend to use it well.

We may not think that that's what we are doing, but it is nonetheless. It's a slap in the face to God when we don't appreciate what we have and are wishing it away for something better. And it's a slap in the face to God when we refuse to enjoy and utilize the amazing things at our disposal now, just because we are distracted by other things.

Being Present Makes Us More Aware

Being present allows us to see the needs around us and the people who could use our help. It enables us to take the focus off of ourselves and work towards helping others and sharing the love of Jesus.

When we are focused on our own comfort, we are more likely to prioritize our workout, our mani/pedi, our bubble bath, or our Netflix time. Those things are fun, nice, and fine, but when we overly focused on the things that will help relieve the stress of the day, we suddenly lose focus of what really matters and how we can better the world around us right now.

Being present allows us to know the difference between when we need self-care or need "me-time", and when we are just being spoiled and selfish.

Being Present Allows Us to Progress Towards Our Goals

We may wish that we had already "arrived", but we cannot "arrive" without working hard at our goals and dreams. If we will remain present we can use the now to propel us towards our "arrival". However, if we aren't present, we won't be productive in the now, which will actually keep our "arrival" allusive.

Staying in the moment and being present frees us up to work towards the things we are passionate about, instead of just dreaming about them.

It's okay to look towards the future and be hopeful for whats next. It's okay to make a general plan and work hard towards and end goal. But we can do that and be present at the same time. We don't have to give our entire being to the future-to dreaming of it, to working towards it, etc. We can also have our "me time" and our "chill times" without ignoring our loved ones and the things that really matter most. Spending time with loved ones in the now doesn't mean we can't have alone time, but having our self-care/alone time should not keep us from being present with those we love. We can work hard, work towards our goals, have "me time", and practice self-care while still living well in this present moment, still spending time with those that matter most, and still using this time that we have to the glory of God and for our own enjoyment. None of these things are mutually exclusive. So be present, be thankful, and be content.