Being in the Moment
In any given day there is always something you can find to worry you. I worry to the point of obsession about nearly everything: from my job performance and what social blunder I’ve committed lately to the likelihood of spontaneous combustion and whether or not the milk has gone bad (the sell-by-date says August, but food poisoning is nothing to kid about). Most often I have something specific on which to focus all of this concern, but sometimes my anxiety manifests itself in a vague nervousness with no clear culprit. It’s this inexplicable anxiety that becomes the most frustrating and hardest to manage.
Worry can be a good thing. We evolved the behavior to prevent us from doing something stupid that might prematurely end our existence (an example: I am concerned for the continued well-being of my appendages and am therefore less likely to play around with a band saw). It encourages us to be proactive and anticipate potential problems. But worrying about something you cannot control, or worrying for no reason at all does nothing but encourage premature grays.
For those of us often afflicted with anxiety—and the urge to check the quantity and color of our follicles—there are methods to help us control it. Psychologists have adopted a technique from Zen Buddhism called mindfulness. A state of awareness, mindfulness is being fully immersed in the present, looking neither forward nor back, and accepting what is happening around you whether it be good or bad. By focusing on the present, you acknowledge what you can and cannot control. As a meditation technique, mindfulness is helpful in increasing concentration and reducing stress.
If mindfulness is about fully experiencing the present moment, it’s not much of a leap to being thankful for that experience. My own method of lowering anxiety is to immerse myself in whatever I’m doing or wherever I am at that specific moment in time. Rather than compulsively looking ahead in apprehension of a problem that hasn’t happened yet, I find something to appreciate in what I am doing right now. And try to relax.
Be thankful for the present, and don’t let the future scare you.
Image by Vicente Villamón
Tori is a student intern who will be working with the Thankfulfor team over the summer. She is a senior at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where she is studying graphic design.
