Even as I write this, I’m experiencing the joy and privilege of “being alive”. I can feel the breeze at my window, hear the sounds on the street below, sense the pain in my back..What a wonderful feeling! And it sure feels great to be able to focus on the present moment and be completely oblivious to the hundreds of challenges and “problems” that wait for me in the future.

It’s wonderful to be able to leave the past in the past and not think of the ‘nasty’ incident that happened yesterday and the awesome meeting I had ‘that’ day. It’s like there’s an automatic gadget in my mind that keeps ‘auto fine-tuning’ my thoughts to bring them back to the present moment.

A few years ago my doctor told me, “Are you sure you’ll live till tomorrow? A lot can happen in 24 hours!” And that really shook me up. Living in the past, living in the future, that’s all I seemed to be doing till then. “No more”, I declared.

Sure you may want to plan and you may want to do a few things “later”, when the time is “right”, when your wife’s in a good mood, when your boss is more relaxed, when the recession is over.. But if nothing else stops you except yourself, you might want to prepone everything you want to do in your life. You might want to make NOW the most important moment of your life.

Of late, I’ve shifted focus from NOW to RIGHT NOW. There’s a huge difference in those two. There’s a sense of immediacy in RIGHT NOW. It’s more powerful. More stimulating. And I’ll tell you what.. it takes the headache out of prioritizing!

For many years I used to make elaborate to-do lists and prioritize what I would do when. Not any more. Now I let my gut take over. Because in the world of RIGHT NOW, spontaneity works best. Now I decide what I feel like doing and do it in that very moment. And I end up doing the job well too, because there are no distractions. The mind is not oscillating between the past and the future. When it’s focused only and sharply on the job on hand, you bet the job will be done well!

I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs in my life. And I have no doubt whatsoever so have you. In bad times you wish for good times. In good times you wish for better times. It’s pointless! All you’ll get is a life full of ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ and ‘whens’.

Life is a precious gift. And that includes every single moment. You can choose to be happy in every moment. Because happiness IS a choice. That’s all it is. A string of happy moments makes a happy life. And we’re so often chasing a happy life we forget to enjoy the happy moments. So tell yourself. Life is RIGHT NOW. Live in the moment. That’s the most precious thing you’ll ever own!

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