It takes practice and a concentrated effort to get into the habit of really enjoying the moments in life. When we look at life it is rolled into a lot of moments, some will be pleasant and some won’t be. Being present for each moment takes away the need for repetitive, unhelpful thought patterns. So even if you find yourself in an unpleasant moment it is truly better to live that moment in that time rather than have a constant replay taking away awareness from other moments in time.
It does take practice to bring your awareness into the present moment. Being aware of your thoughts is the major doorway through which present moment awareness is possible. It is one thing to allocate time for future planning or past reminiscing and another thing to have special events or moments in time overshadowed by repetitive thought patterns. If your house had been robbed you would not allow the thief continual entry, you would phone the police, put security measures into place or maybe you would even move. Repetitive thought patterns can deprive you of the joy available in the present moment by stealing your awareness from that point in time.
A little technique I developed several years ago is to visualize the thought pattern as a weed. Having an awareness of how weeds operate allowed me to carefully follow the thought pattern and imagine pulling it out from the root. In my visualization I imagine gently removing the entire root, i.e. the repetitive thought pattern, then bagging it and throwing it into an incinerator. This technique has worked for me.
Namaste
Cindy Maree: science, personal development and spiritual growth 