Gratitude and living in the present moment

GRATEFUL NOW: How living in the present moment triggers gratitude

Last updated: April 2nd, 2019

Today as I was getting ready to leave the house I was struck with how at home I felt in my body and how confident that made me feel as I was beginning my day. This very simple realization made those feelings soar even higher, skyrocketing me towards a freedom I had never tasted before that moment; within that split second of realization nothing else seemed to matter other than the bliss of the magic I was witnessing. It was an exhilarating feeling and I rode it throughout my day like a surfer on the wave of their life. I wanted to attempt to live in the moment and experience this empowerment like a livestream, appreciating it as it unfolded.

This single-minded desire of not wanting to let this astonishing feeling slip through my fingers became a foray into the connection between living in the NOW and how it corresponded with a sense of “wholeness” that cascaded into a beautiful waking sensation of joyful serenity. I felt elated at the freedom I was experiencing, the awakening of my senses to the possibilities before me by standing firmly in the NOW. The serenity of feeling at one with something I had known was there but had yet to tap into was surprisingly peaceful.

Our busy lives throw so much across our paths that can easily, and often does, distract us from living in the present. How much of your day is spent thinking about some event in the past or something in the future—tomorrow, next week, or even next year—that hasn’t even happened yet? And how much of your day is spent in the NOW—in the sacred place where we connect with those around us on a deeper level, where we meet ourselves on our soul’s mission and where we can belly laugh because we’re living in the moment and appreciating the time and humour of other human beings who are doing the same thing? (Let me tell you a secret: You simply cannot belly laugh if you’re not living in the NOW.)

As an intuitive it’s often disconcerting to me when I’m with someone who I can sense has left large parts of themselves out of the present moment. In layman’s terms, they’re distracted; that’s what it boils down to. But in reality, it’s so much more than that. When we leave parts of ourselves in the past or in the future where our thoughts lie, it means we’re functioning within our everyday lives in the NOW in an incomplete state of being. We simply aren’t whole. We’re sums of a whole, and without all of our parts to create that sum we aren’t functioning in the world as our true authentic self, the self that deep down we know ourselves to be.

I was surprised by how my elated feeling of confidence was tied somehow to the fact that I was feeling “whole.” I was at home in my body in a way that I haven’t been in weeks, thanks to a recent much-needed group meditation. I was feeling a sense of completeness within myself, and I realized that this feeling was what was serving to anchor me in the present moment. This got me thinking—would I feel this way more often if I were truly practicing living in the NOW? I’m blessed with an innate confidence, but this, this feeling today felt like meeting confidence on a new playing field. It was like I had suddenly been moved up to the varsity team, and I had scored the winning goal.

It turns out that consciously living in the NOW, focusing on the confidence and everything else that was brought to the surface for me worked synergistically to trigger my gratitude, and it functioned like a rechargeable battery. The more I focused on the positive the longer the positivity was extended into my day, and beyond. When you bring gratitude into your life in a conscious way you begin to attract more of what you’re grateful for—the positive things in your life, and the silver linings you can ferret out of the not-so-positive happenings when they do occur, because intentions or not, life isn’t always a fairy tale—is it?

Gratitude is truly the simplest way to shift your life perspective and your way of functioning in the world. Not to mention it’s an instant mood-booster! Need a quick pick-me-up or a way to jump-start your day on a more positive note? Try sitting down and writing just three things that you’re grateful for in that very moment. It needn’t take much of your time, and you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Trust me when I say it will bring noticeable results to your emotional well-being if you allow it to do so.

Rising above the muck of our daily lives and moving into a state of conscious gratitude is the first and foremost way of letting the Law of Attraction begin to work for you. And, I think it’s safe for me to say that with a gratitude practice, more awareness of the NOW, and the success you’ll find when you raise your intentions to a place of manifestation—you’ll begin to walk through your life with a cloak of confidence that is rooted within to your very spirit. Take your confidence into your own hands—be grateful today.

Read more on this topic: THE GRATITUDE CHALLENGE: What are you thankful for today?


image: Freedom via Shutterstock
  1. I am feeling the same way today! I understand that this is an old article but I was so at peace, so at the present moment that I just felt like looking up the internet nd reading something on gratitude. And that’s how I changed upon this article of yours and I can so relate to it!
    I am feeling as if even if I have to die today I will die with no regrets. I can’t just explain the peace which I feel within me. So much so that I don’t feel like letting go of this moment!
    Thank you for the beautiful article! More power to you!:)

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