Living in the present

There are so many distractions in these present times. Even if there wasn’t a pandemic, the amount of noise in a person’s life on any given day is extreme.  

Our thoughts and eyes dart to and fro’, trying to ascertain the moment in time we’re in, and what we should be focused on. 

Therein lies the challenge of living in the present. 

Another part of knowing how to live in the present is understanding/knowing what to focus on at any given moment. 

While I myself have to work on this area and make it a habit, I do know that focusing on the immediate task in front of you is a good way to live in the present.   
 
You can really only do one thing at a time.  If that is going to the grocery store, picking up some items, and then putting them away, then that is your one task that you can focus on in the present. 

I saw a great example of this in Walmart a few months back.  An older gentleman, probably in his 70’s, had bags of grocery items in his cart, probably two weeks, so he wouldn’t have to return to the store anytime soon, and was paying the cashier.  As put his change in his wallet, the cashier, she said with a smile, “now you get to go home and put it all away in your cupboards.”   
 
She said it from a nice perspective.  As though he could now fill up his place of residency with the inventory of items he needed.   
 
He smiled and went on his way.  He seemed to be aware of everything he was performing/doing at that present time. 
 
We should bear in mind that others may or may not be living in the present in their interactions with us.  We must strive and persevere to do what must be done to stay self-controlled, and determined through self-awareness, each and every action we take. 

It is a positive when we can know where we’ve gone to a retail outlet, what we’ve purchased and why we purchased it, as one example.