Right Now, Right?

By Cheryl Hansen

The instructors at YogaPod talk a lot about being in the present. They seem to know the exact moment my mind begins to wander and they whip out their lassos and rope my thoughts right back into the room. Now if I could just figure out how to do that outside the yoga room with my own lasso.

Although I’ve been known to redo a conversation in my mind hours (or days) after it actually takes place, I don’t worry a lot about the past. I do know a lot of people who question decisions, wrestle with regret and wonder if they ate the right egg for breakfast. My problem is the future: two hours from now, the third Friday of next month, Halloween 2029. I spend so much time thinking about how I can shape tomorrow that I completely lose track of today. So it’s no wonder that as each day comes to a close, I’m often left asking what in the world I actually accomplished (so maybe I do fret about the past more than I thought).

I do think that good planning is (or will be) one of the keys to my success—having the right foods on hand or making arrangements for my summertime kids so that I can finally make it to hot yoga (I miss you, sweaty friend). But, like a lot of things, too much of a good thing is, well … too much. It’s overwhelming—this constant worry about what’s next.  

So I am trying to focus more on the now these days. Our kitty was being silly the other night, purring loudly and conjuring the kind of giggles from my daughter that warms a mama’s heart. My instinct, believe it or not, was to stifle the fun because it was bedtime after all (and she needed her rest, and there were wet towels in the washer… and, and …). But I stopped that ridiculous urge and just enjoyed the moment in the dark with my daughter.

I plan to do that a lot moving forward.