How do you live this life?

Do you plan your day ahead of time? These plans, are they set in stone, or tentative? Are your weeks or months packed back to back, or do you leave yourself open for a break, or for a change?

The fact of the matter is that despite our best efforts to prepare, to be ready, we simply live our lives just like everyone else spinning on the planet- one day at a time.

That simple of an idea, yet we forget so easily. Conceptually you can explain the phrase to anyone that asks, but that’s to miss the point entirely. A better idea would be to ask yourself; am I aware that I live for today, and today only? Today, am I actually living? Not in the literal sense of course, not physically but mentally. In a day, a whole host of events will occur and so in order to be completely in the present, we must truly focus. Which would be to say, that any other distraction should be cast aside in good measure of the main goal in front of you.

So, if that’s cooking yourself dinner, the only thing on your mind should be the meal you are preparing and anything related. Which again, sounds incredibly easy. However, imagine your phone goes off, do you answer it? How about if you suddenly remember a deadline that otherwise slipped your mind- are you distracted yet? Perhaps you started, and halfway through you realize you’ve made a mistake in the recipe; you don’t want to start from scratch because you feel tired and just want to finish. Did you fixate on any of those examples?

See, living in the modern age can sometimes mean giving up the ability to focus on one moment at a time. Living in the future becomes the familiar mode we assume, in fact, it’s more like second nature. People are always looking forward. What is next, who is next, when are we doing the next item on the agenda? Soon after, we start living for the future, not just planning it. If we can’t even hold our attention for one simple task without getting distracted, can we really claim we are living life one day at a time?

We all have the same amount of hours in a day, the same amount of days in a week, the same amount of weeks in a month, and so on. The more difficult task, especially when we are pressed for time, would be to schedule less. To actively underwhelm oneself, and with purpose, we must be brave enough to do less, be less, and still find solace in who we are without judgment or second-guessing.

Could you live one day at a time? Who knows, perhaps you’ll discover a new life- one that is less loud, and so much more vibrant. One you can see in real time.