A dear friend sent this to me and I felt that this was something that is worth sharing. I don’t know who wrote this but I can certainly say that we tend to forget to stop to smell the roses, more often than not. With this post I plan on starting a series of Living in the Moment. I will be posting to each of these and how you can really motivate and help others but mostly, place focus onto yourself. You would be surprised as to how often we do not really listen to our inner voice. I love to help others and see a smile on their face, but I find that sometimes its okay to be a little selfish and focus on me. So for now, enjoy and tune in for the series on ‘Living in the Moment’.

Listen: Stand still and focus on the sounds around you. What you hear is life happening. Try narrowing your focus to one distinctive sound and block out the others.

See: Being introspective can be enlightening, but to live in the moment, use your eyes to look outside yourself. What color is the sky?

Feel: On a sensory level, feel the environment around you. Is it warm against your skin? Feel the humidity in the air, note the slant of the sun’s warmth or the briskness of wind in your hair.

Smell: Fill your lungs with the scents of the day. Pleasant aromas, sharp odors, even sensory hints that are barely there, like the smell of rain, are all part of what is happening right now.

Touch: Ground yourself in the moment by holding on. If you find your mind drifting back to its customary worries, touch a railing, pull a leaf from a tree, shake hands with a friend to stay current.

Taste: Rather than automatically downing that morning coffee, focus on your taste buds to experience all its nuances of flavor. Savor your toast. Living in the moment means focusing on what you are doing right now.

Create: Draw a doodle. Compose haiku. Fold that memo into an origami crane. Give your complete attention to the something you are making out of nothing.

Laugh: Do not let your enjoyment of the present be clouded by habitual worries about the past or future. If you see something funny, laugh. It feels great.

Run: Set your mind free by focusing on the physical. Run until you are out of breath.

Meditate: The secret is to discipline your mind to float freely. Do not allow it to tether itself to memory or anticipation. Meditate with your eyes on a focal point nearby and keep your thoughts un-tethered.

Communicate: One of the best ways to put down your mental burdens for a while is to engage. Ask a question at a lecture. Join in a sing-along. Enter into a friendly debate.

Invest: Do not just observe the world around you; join it. Allow your mind to observe and interpret what you see, hear, and feel. Care about the moment.

Help: When you are helping someone else with a problem, you forget your own for the moment.

React: Living in the moment does not mean sailing through untouched. Respond to the here and now as it happens.

Be: Feel the effect of your own presence in the present, and refresh yourself with each moment that goes by.

- Author Unknown