Life in the Moment

 

hodiernal - adjective - relating to the present; of today (Lexico.com)

I don't know about you, but I have read quite a few passages both on line and in books regarding living life in the moment, something that seems nearly impossible to do. I have even undergone mediations lead by live, legitimate Buddhist monks just to learn to be sentient inside each second so that I don't miss anything earth shattering that is happening in the now. And they have helped, of course. In order to free myself of the past and future that inhibit the present, what I wind up doing is reminding myself of the hodiernal existence's importance. 

Why? The present has it all over the past and the future. Whatever happened in the past, no one can change. Due to memory, positive or negative occurrences tend to stick around and often repeat themselves. The other day, I wrote about photographs, how they preserve the best moments of the past. We keep the positive pictures around in order to shield us from the negative imagery that stays with us and is stored beneath the surface sometimes so that it doesn't hurt or hamper us. Which is why a lot of us wind up in therapy: to unearth these baneful tidbits so that we can thoroughly understand our own motivations. If we can't go back or don't want to, we don't have to. An option is to continue along hodiernal lines if for no other reason than to save ourselves time and money and the possible pain of the pitfalls of self-realization.   

As to the future, it can even be more frustrating. Right now, I'd just love to live in its infinite possibilities, but I can't because of where I am in the moment. How frustrating! Each experienced minute contributes to the future, which simply points to the fact that we have very little control over what we will encounter tomorrow, next week, next month or next year. Sometimes plans made are thwarted by circumstances beyond our control. Just cue up that Robert Burns quote about the best laid plans to substantiate what I am communicating here.

So I am back to where I started: square one, the hodiernal existence's significance. Often we don't have a choice when it comes down to how to live, but I can say with confidence that a life best lived is hodiernal.  I hope I can stay in the moment. If not, it's time to get back to the Buddhist temple. LOL! 

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