One of the easiest ways to live a happy and full life is to live in the present, the now, the moment. When you choose to live in the past or the future you're robbing yourself of your own enjoyment and missing what's right in front of you. Sure, there are many things that can be on your mind, work, money, school, relationships... but you shouldn't live in the past, in what could've been, because you're wasting your time alive. You shouldn't worry about the future because you're wasting your present time away. It's important to live in the present in order to accomplish a happy life.

For the past couple of weeks, I have felt alone and depressed. I found myself counting down the days until summer vacation. But that's no way to live. We can't wait for the good things to come, but we have to make them happen by ourselves. I realized I wasted weeks and weeks of feeling sad and sorry for myself when I could've been out experiencing life, meeting new people and making new memories. Here are some things to keep in mind if you're trying to focus on living in the present.

Eliminate negativity from your life

What's keeping you from living your life right now? Chances are there is a common problem or negative energy going on in your life. Whether it's a person, an ongoing problem, it's important to cut this negativity out of your life in order to focus on positivity and living your life now. What happened before has happened, and there is no time machine to have us go back in time to fix all of our mistakes. The best thing to do now is to move forward with a new mindset and a clear positive strength. Cut the negativity out or you'll never achieve this.

Smile

Each day is full of endless possibilities! Start it with a smile. You are in control of your attitude every morning.Keep it optimistic and hopeful. You're alive and breathing. That's reason enough to start your day with a smile.

Fully appreciate the moments of today

Soak in as much of today as you possibly can – the sights, the sounds, the smells, the emotions, the success, and the sorrow. You only experience today ONCE. That's right, you can only live this exact day one time. So make it worth it. Soak up everything around you!

Forgive the past worries

Holding grudges takes you away from the present. Having to constantly hate someone or something for years takes energy away from you. The energy that you could be using to better yourself and everyone around you. Forgive the past, and move towards making yourself present.

It's OK to dream about the future, but work hard today

Dream big. Once you're done, dream even bigger. Set goals and plans for the future. But working hard today is always the first step toward realizing your dreams tomorrow. Don’t allow dreaming about tomorrow to replace living in today.

Don't dwell on past accomplishments

If you are still talking about what you did yesterday, you haven’t done much today. Enough said.

STOP WORRYING

You can’t fully appreciate today if you worry too much about tomorrow. Realize that tomorrow is going to happen whether you worry about it or not. And since worrying has never accomplished anything for anybody, redirect your mental energy elsewhere.

There can be plenty of things holding you back from living in the present. The past and the future are problems that keep us from living in the now. There is are times when we are allowed to drift and wonder what could've been or wonder where we'll be, but we have to remember to not get stuck there because then we are wasting our lives away. Live today in the present, like it's your last day. You don't want to look back on your life and wonder what went wrong. Take a moment and just breathe. In and out. Be happy you're alive. Stop worrying about things that don't matter. Do more than just exist. Life is short, so live it.