Live in the moment they say, you should pay attention to the
now. So many people are using this approach to live mindlessly, recklessly and disrespectfully.
Surely being in the moment doesn’t help when you are planning your yearly
holidays. You will have to consult the calendar and check the dates. It also
doesn’t help you when you carelessly book a week holidays with the kids on the
week of your partner’s fortieth birthday. Yet when confronted with your lack of
attention you say: ‘I am living in the moment’.
Some use ‘The living in the moment’ approach to excuse their
annoying behaviour by making sure they speak the loudest when at a restaurant
to the point that the others around them can’t have a conversation. And unless you are a baby, If you are screaming
your eyeballs when someone is sitting in meditation beside you, you can say
that you are ‘Living in the now’ but that doesn’t make you less of an asshole.
If your self-absorbed identity tells you that you should do
whatever the hell you want while disrespecting others you have certainly misinterpreted
the concept of ‘Living in the now’.
All this for me even if it can be seen as ‘Living in the
moment’, it denotes lack of respect and empathy and I don’t see it as something
to brag about.
To ‘Living in the moment’, I would add - mindfully. Live in
the moment mindfully. Mindful of the impact you have on others and empathetic to
what’s around you. We don’t live isolated, we are communities of individuals
with different needs, wants and desires. Respect should always be present.
'Living in the now' is being in the moment, consciously, being
present in every action, paying attention to what’s happening to you, others
and environment. It doesn’t excuse you from disrespectful behaviour and
selfish motives in detriment of the needs of others. Living in the now is being present and in harmony with the inner self, nature and the world.
