What is presence, anyway?

The idea of “being present” has been used so repetitively, it’s almost like the terminology has lost its impact.

In the fast-paced world we live in, it can seem nearly impossible to center our minds and feel balanced. Constantly, it seems that our attention is being pulled in so many different directions that we are living within our minds, while failing to live within the present moment.

But you are here now.

If you fail to acknowledge the present that is taking shape in front of you, then you will lose it before you even realize you had it.

We, as human beings, love the anticipation. The desire to be in control and the need to know what’s going to happen next is something that is instilled in most of us. That’s not to say there is an issue with planning ahead, but I think it’s important to acknowledge that most of us do this rather obsessively, allowing it to control our lives a little more than it should.

We need to slow down.

When your mind is anywhere but the present moment, it’s almost like you are skipping sections of a book. Sometimes, these sections lack substance, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth reading, After all, we only get so many sections.

Allowing yourself to truly be present is a lot easier said than done. There’s a variety of practices that really seem to cement you into the present. Meditation has been immensely helpful for me, allowing for me to clear my head and exist within a moment. The challenge comes more so when you break out of these practices, and try to apply your newly found mindfulness in the real world.

Becoming present is fairly simple when we’re in an environment that feels comfortable. If you decide to apply this mindfulness in your home, for example, or in another peaceful location, it would probably be a relatively easy feat. If you’re stuck in traffic and going to be late for work, centering yourself in the moment might be a little more difficult.

In a controlled environment, we are presented with fewer stressors that we are more easily able to manage. In an environment that is not as predictable, it is often more difficult to maintain a state of mindfulness. This ties back into our element of control and without it, we tend to feel powerless.

But we aren’t.

The true power is the realization that we cannot change these stressors, but we can change our relationship with them and how we react.

There’s something I love about the idea that we are experiencing, but we are also observing the experience. We often learn through action, but allowing ourselves to approach experiences from a secondary point of view fosters growth and permits the formation of perspectives we may have not yet realized.

If we choose to take on the perspective of the observer, we will likely be quick to notice that change is constant. The pendulum that swings between the good and the bad is always in motion. If you’re familiar with a pendulum, you know that once it peaks on either side, it hesitates in the air for a moment before dropping back down.

It’s easy to become engrossed in those in those moments within the good and the bad. So engrossed, they may seem permanent at times, but as the observer, we know the beauty of the pendulum is that it is never still. In order for these feelings of good and bad to exist, the opposite must also exist. It is between these two extremes, where the pendulum follow current, that true beauty can be found.

We ca learn from the fluidity of the pendulum in that we too must surrender to our path and trust our flow, even if our journey brings us to the less desirable outcome. There is momentary black and momentary white, but there is far more gray, and within the gray, we can find true presence.