The Importance Of Living In The Moment.

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The past, the present, and the future. All three of these spaces are a representation of where we've been, where we are now, and the unknown of what lies ahead for us. While all three aspects are important components of who we are as individuals and where we are going with our lives, many of us give too much of our energy to the spaces that represent our history, and the unknown that's ahead. As important as both the past and the future are to our lives, neither should have precedence over the moment that we're living in right now, which is known to be the present. There can be all kinds of reasons for why so many of us put so much focus into what's happened already, and what has yet to occur. However, the importance of being present in the moment is something many of us don't give enough of our energy to. I once heard a lyric in a song that goes; "The present is a gift." If the present is indeed a gift that we're given, it can be argued that many of us aren't fully appreciating this gift to its greatest extent. Focusing on the present can be a daunting task for many of us, but the importance of living in the moment is something we must learn to appreciate.

Hello once again ladies and gentlemen. It's your boy Brad H. back again, and welcome again to another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! Hope all has been good and well with you all since the last edition. Of course if that hasn't been the case for you, keep on holding your head up high, and maybe you can find a bit of inspiration here. Well summer is officially here, and I'm sure many of you can agree with me when I saw that you can definitely feel its presence. There has been some absolutely horrible humidity here in Southeast, Texas as of late, and I know it won't be getting better anytime soon. I'm not going to complain about it too much though. There are always people dealing with much bigger problems than the heat. The NBA Finals have also come to an end, which is something that I'm definitely happy about. I'm not sure if I stated it in previous posts, but although I'm not a fan of either team that were participating, I was pulling for the Golden State Warriors to take it all. It looked promising for them being up 3-1 in the series, but of course Cleveland came back and won the series. I kinda had a feeling that the Warriors would lose the series if it went to seven games, and that turned out to be the case. Although there were quite a few bad calls by the refs throughout the series, congratulations goes to the Cavaliers. Believe me when I say that it pains me to say that, which is why I stated that I'm glad it's all over with. Well now that I've gotten on my soapbox for a bit, lets go ahead and get into this week's topic on the importance of living in the moment.

Before getting started, I always try to mention in my writings that a person's individual viewpoint on a topic will always vary. My aim here isn't to focus on what is considered to be right or wrong, but rather to give anyone that reads these posts something to hopefully think about and evaluate further. The main goal here is to use this platform as a way to express some of my views and opinions. If anyone happens to feel differently or disagree with my views on this or any of the topics I write about, that is totally okay with me. So how did we come to this week's topic of the importance of living in the moment? Well, just like the majority of the topics I choose to discuss, the importance of living in the moment is something that I personally struggle with. While a struggle, it is however something that I've become more aware of as time goes on, which is ultimately inspiring me to put more focus and thought into at least getting a hold of this problem. I'm not going to act or pretend that I have everything about life figured out, so I want to stress that because my ears to closest to my eyes and mouth, anything advice that I dish out here applies to me as well. So many people try to portray to others that they have it all figured out, and I'm striving to not be one of those kind of people since that's not the case.

In regards to dealing with the struggles of living in the moment, many of us are either focused on things that have already happened that we can't let go of for whatever reasons, or we're overly concerned with upcoming things that have either yet to happen, or will probably never happen. It can be something as big as worrying about what's going to happen years down the road, or as small as what's going to happen in the next few hours. As I stated earlier in the post, there can be many reasons for why many of us struggle when it comes to living in the moment. I personally believe that one of the biggest reasons many people struggle with living in the moment deals with anxiety. Now there are all different kinds of anxiety that an individual can possess, but for the sake of this entry, I'm going to look at it from a more generalized perspective rather than a particular form of anxiety. Now I'm sure that most of us are aware of anxiety and how it affects so many people. However, many people do not know the true extent of it's meaning. Anxiety is defined as "A mental health disorder characterized by feelings of worry, anxiety, or fear that are strong enough to interfere with one's daily activities." Some of you may wonder how does this relate to the importance of living in the moment, and that's definitely a fair question to ask.

As someone that struggles with anxiety from time to time, I can personally attest to it hindering a person's ability to live in the moment. Just speaking from my own perspective, the reason anxiety can deprive us of living in the moment is because we're too worried about what's going to happen next. It's almost like your brain is working several steps ahead of your mind and body, which causes us to lose conscious of the present. From my perspective on this topic, anxiety can totally sap our ability to enjoy being in the moment with others. Now why is trying to live in the moment such an important thing? Well, simply stated, the present is all that we really have. There's a lyric in a song by one of my favorite hip hop groups (Cunninlynguists) that goes; "You can't count on the future, only the past." I think those lyrics pretty much define why focusing on being present in the moment is vital to our lives. We know where we've been with our lives, which is defined by the past. While it's okay to reflect upon the past every now and again, the fact is that the past represents a time that's over. In regards to the future, because the future hasn't happened yet, we don't know what lies ahead in our lives. How can we enjoy today when we're already worried about yesterday, as well as tomorrow? I personally feel that life cannot be fully enjoyed if we're not in the present.

So how do we train ourselves to live in the moment? If I'm being honest here, it can be a very difficult thing for most people to do. However, there are some habits that we can implement to help with this. I'm not a professional when it comes to this, but here are a few tips that have helped me out quite a bit. First, learning to be grateful can help with living in the moment. Many of us take that glass half empty approach with life and don't realizing that we're truly blessed beyond what we may believe. Make it a daily priority to focus on being grateful for all the small things in life. Next, I would say that learning to meditate can help with living in the moment. Meditation can be a helpful tool when it comes to controlling our thoughts, which can help with controlling anxiety. Finally, getting outdoors and just breathing in that good fresh outdoor air can be of great help. While there is a lot of bad going on in the world, there is still a beautiful world out there for us to enjoy. Looking at little things like the trees, birds, flowers, etc can be a huge reminder of how blessed we are to be here. Again, living the moment can be a difficult thing for many of us to do, but it's definitely not impossible. Just work at it daily and lets learn to enjoy the moment. Remember that every second that passes is another moment that is gone, and never coming back.

Alright now folks, I believe I was able to get my point across, so I'm going to go ahead and sign off for this time. Big thanks as always to everyone that stopped by for another entry of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! Like I always mention, I hope that some meaning and understanding was gained through this. In the event that this wasn't the case for anyone that read, I still appreciate your visit. I hope you all have a great weekend ahead, and feel free to leave any comments that you find relevant to this topic. Some of you may have some input that could help myself, as well as others who may struggle with this topic. Alright I'm out, so until next time my name is Brad H., and I wish you all peace and positive thoughts.

©2016 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.

Being Patient With Achieving A Goal (Marathon Not A Sprint).

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I'm pretty sure that we all have heard a famous quote that goes; "Life is a marathon, not a sprint." Many people believe this statement to be a fact, and I'm one of those many that will co-sign as to how truthful and authentic I find it to be. That said, for such a profound and honest statement to be embraced by so many, we still live in a world that predominately believes in doing things fast. Maybe it has to do with the fact that we live in what some call a "fast paced" society, where time is considered to be too valuable to waste. While I'm personally strive to not get caught up in the "fast paced" aspect of the society we live in, I do understand how crucial of part of our lives that time plays in our lives. From my perspective, one of the downsides to being in a world that moves fast is that many people believe that the fast paced aspect applies when it comes to achieving our goals as well. I believe we have fallen into a misconception that because our society is fast paced, everything else should happen fast for us as well. In my opinion, this is definitely not the case when it comes to setting and reaching goals, and I think this is something that must be addressed. They say that patience is a virtue, and that mindset definitely applies when it comes to achieving goals.

YO! What's going on good people? It's your boy Brad H. hitting you all up once again, and welcome to another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! I hope that everyone has been doing great since the last installment, and if things haven't been going well for you as of late, I hope you can find a bit of inspiration here. We're in the month of June for 2016, and a lot has been happening in our world as of late. The world suffered the loss of a true icon and legend in former boxer Muhammad Ali, who died on June 3, 2016 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease at the age of 74. I believe that the reasoning for Ali's passing having such a big impact on the world is due to him being such an ambassador for having courage in our society. Yes he was indeed a great fighter, but the impact that he made on the world as an activist and for standing up for what the believed in is something that resonates with the entire world. I send my condolences to his family and anyone that is affected by his passing. Also, Mixed Marital Arts fighter Kimbo Slice died unexpectedly this week. My condolences go to his family as well. It can't be stated enough, but times like these are a testament to how precious life truly is. Cherish those close to you, because life is so unpredictable. I know I used my weekly soapbox a bit longer this time around, but I believe that it was fitting in this situation. Lets go ahead and get into this week's topic of the importance of having patience when it comes to achieving goals.

As I always try to mention in my writings, a person's individual viewpoint on a topic will always vary. The aim here isn't to focus on what is considered to be right or wrong, but rather to give people something to hopefully think about and evaluate further. My primary mission here is to use this platform as a way to express some of my ideas and opinions. If anyone happens to feel differently or disagree with my views on this or any of the topics I write about, that is totally okay with me. Now as I stated previously, we'll be discussing the importance of having patience when it comes to our goals. Back in early 2014, I wrote a post titled "Focus On Daily Goals, Rather Than Long Term Goals. (Marathon vs. Sprint Mentality)", which can be read here. That particular entry dealt with more smaller daily goals that amount to something bigger. This week's topic isn't going to ignore the importance of daily goals, however, it deals with moving towards goals that many would consider to be bigger. Whether you're focusing on something daily, or trying to move towards something bigger, the whole marathon vs. sprint mentality still applies. Now before I get started, I want to say that I don't want anyone to think that I'm endorsing or saying it's okay to not expect results in our goals because I'm delving into this particular topic. People's level of patience will vary, so it's up to you to decide whenever it's time to throw in the towel on something that may not be working our for you as quickly as you'd like. However, I believe that many of us give up too quickly on certain things that may be important to us, which is the main reason for me addressing this is topic.

Now most of us have various goals and dreams that we aspire to achieve. Remember when we were young kids in grade school, and our teachers would ask us that question that we're all heard before; "What do you wanna be when you grow up?" Most of us came up with lofty goals like becoming an astronaut, or becoming president of the United States, etc. For many of us as we age and become older, many of those big expectations we had during our youth become tempered. You may wonder what does any of this have to do with this week's topic at hand. Well, there are two points that coincide with what I'm talking about. First off, when we're younger, many of us are not often not told much how much effort and patience that is required in order to reach a goal. Because we're young and fragile, many of our elders seek to inspire us through more positive avenues, rather than a more realistic one. Secondly, setting goals for yourself at an advanced age requires a different mindset from being younger, however, the biggest rule of thumb is that you're never too old to set new goals for yourself. Now I personally believe the latter is probably the biggest mistake that many of us make in regards to our goals. We play these mental games on ourselves and think that because we're older and the clock is ticking, we have to rush in obtaining our goals. In turn, our patience towards our goals wear thin, which results in total burnout. We all know know what often comes after burnout; a lack of motivation to keep going.

Now, lets go back to the whole life being a marathon not a sprint mentality in regards to having a goal. As we mature and become older, we all become aware that nothing happens overnight, and that anything worth having is worth waiting for. Yes, this state of mind definitely applies to life in general, but the same mentality is required in order stay driven to succeed in something. Of course it is true that a great deal of effort is required in order to reach a goal, that goes without saying. However, a great amount of diligence is key as well. When we're moving towards something that may be considered big and is important to us, we have to exhibit a deal amount of patience before getting to that point. Again, living in a fast society where people expect results fast can make this an even more difficult journey. Think of it like this as a prime example to follow. Summer is almost here, and many people out there are looking to get fitter for this time of year. We all know that losing those pounds isn't going to happen overnight, and even if you're losing weight quickly, you're more than likely putting your health at risk. The bottom line is that anything that you're passionate about likely takes time to achieve, but it's only doable if you're able to stick with it. Again, it's a marathon not a sprint.

From my perspective on this topic, the importance of having patience with your goals all comes down to how much you really want what you're pushing towards. More than likely, if it's something that you're deeply passionate about, you'll continue to persevere and put in the effort to get where you're trying to be. If you're willing to toss in the towel when you don't quickly see the results you want, then you're probably not as passionate about your goal or goals as you may think. If you're the type of person that puts time limits and restrictions on your goals, you'll probably end up not succeeding in them. Going fast may be the desired way to get somewhere, but can also lead to a multitude of mistakes along the way. Regardless of what it may be, only you can decide when something isn't worth your time and effort any longer, so listening to others who may tell you when you need to give up on something is null and void. Regardless of your age or where you are in life, if you still have a passion for something, keep striving towards it. If and when you figure out that fire isn't there anymore, then maybe it's time to let it go, but make sure to do it on your own terms. So for anyone out there reading this, continue to be patient and long suffering towards achieving the things that give you meaning, and always be mindful that working towards a goal or goals is a marathon, not a sprint.

Well I'm going to go ahead and end this week's topic, so big thanks again to anyone that stopped through for another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'. I hope that some meaning and understanding was gained through this, and even if there wasn't, I still appreciate your visiting. Summer is almost here (June 20), and it's starting to get warm outside. Just as a suggestion, try to get outdoors and enjoy the beauty outside this weekend. I hope everyone has a great weekend and rest of the week ahead, and I'll see you all in the next one. Till next time, my name is Brad H., and I wish you all peace and positive thoughts.

©2016 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.