How to Seize The Moment
Probably the best thing I like about life is its amazing ability to surprise us. One moment can change the course of your life forever. Just one moment! And you never know when that moment is going to strike you, and bring with it a cascade of events that you never even imagined before.
It can a be a person you meet by chance, a book you read on the airplane, a fight you have with someone, an event you witness on the sidewalk, a song you hear on the radio, an ad you read in the newspaper—anything!
When you are down and depressed and days feel like a burden to live, you tend to think that that is all there is to life. When you are on the ninth cloud and everything seems bright and promising, you feel that it is going to last forever. But nothing lasts forever. The moment comes and your life is changed again.
These ups and downs of life, this roller coaster ride is what Life is. It would have been boring otherwise. The sadness gives way to happiness and the joys lead to sorrows. Just like the night gives birth to the day and the setting sun brings with it the darkness of the night. This interaction between light and darkness is awesome. We live in the space between these two opposites.
The trick is to seize the moment. When you are happy you let that happiness fill your soul and when you are filled with sorrow, you get out of yourself and experience the beauty of sadness. Yes there is beauty in sorrows too. There are lessons in failure and there are hopes hidden behind the door of dejection.
And how can you do so? But simply remembering and drilling this thought in your mind that nothing lasts forever. It is one thought which has the capability to help you get through any “negative” event in your life. It is not only my personal experience but the experience of all of us. This is something that life teaches us every single day.
Whatever touches your heart deeply has the power and the potential to invite that life changing moment in your life. Your emotions and their intensity can make or break your life. Learn to use the power of emotions in a positive way. The way your heart beats when you are about to do something that you have always been afraid to do before, is a sign that you can do it. Do it! You won’t regret that ever.
Take risks. Calculated risks and let the failures of your life teach you lessons that you would never learn otherwise. Respect your failures—always! They are one of your greatest assets.
The experience of life is all that matters, in all its shades, in all its glory. You were born alone and naked and you will go on to the next phase in the same way. These few decades that you have to live on this planet, let them enrich your soul. Life is life because of death, or it wouldn’t be called life. Don’t let it pass away without you exploring its nooks and corners and allowing yourself to be surprised.
Seek the moment. Be patient. It will come, for sure, to surprise you yet again. Whether you believe in it or not, it will still come, because it believes in you. Life believes in you! Know that!
SHARING IS CARING
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Hi,
This is an interesting and very thought provoking article – and very true, what we have is only the present moment, and everything in life is subject to change, for nothing is permanent, so the best way to look at joy and sorrow is to see them as two sides of one coin, and its an ongoing process in life, being in a state of gratitude all the times will help us cope through any situation in life, thanks for sharing, I enjoyed reading your post.
G Angela
Dear Angela,
Yes you are very right. We must live in the moment, for that’s all we got. Thank you for leaving your feedback.
Abubakar,
A very inspiring post! There is something wonderful to be found in each moment, and learning to stay focused on the present provides us this opportunity. It’s very easy to dwell on the past or anticipate the future while we forget about the beauty and inspiration that is all around us. This is how we really engage in life! Thanks for the wonderful message.
Joe,
Thank you bro for your feedback. Indeed, there is always something wonderful to be found in each moment and yet how few of us realize that.
This is beautiful, Abubakar. Thanks for sharing your thoughts–very inspiring! You’re so right that this is what life is all about, whether it’s the ups or the downs–it’s our lives. And I agree, there is beauty in sorrow, and sometimes that’s the place where we learn our greatest truths and experience our deepest love.
Thanks
Dearest Leah,
Yeah, I do believe that without the sorrows and our so called “failures”, we would never learn or grow. Thank you for your lovely comment as always.
Amazing article Abubakar. I loved it. I do agree with you that we have to be bold, take chances and be willing to learn the lessons that come our way. That really is how we grow the most and benefit from all the amazing experiences that life has to offer. Thanks for the inspirational and motivating message this morning.
Dear Sibyl,
Thank you for seconding my thoughts, my friend.
Abubakar, there are three times I feel in the moment.
1) I have cleared away some significant crap that is taking up my focus. The best processes I have come across to achieve that state of mind is from the book `Getting Things Done`by David Allen
2) A chance moment that takes me back; the sunshine on my face, the sound of children laughing or the breeze through the trees, sound of the ocean, the scent of a soap and water on a young woman, etc.
3) The joyous sense of connection to God, often inspired by the events described in 2.
I find the more I do (1) the more often I experience (2) and (3). The only problem is (1) requires hard work, discipline and persistence. Darn it.
Thank you James for your feedback. In my opinion and from my observation, being in the moment is more of a shift in perception than something you have to “work on”.
Thanks for this wonderful post. Sometimes we are afraid to take risks, and we are afraid to fail…. but like what you said, lessons are hidden within these moments. Recently I went through a very tough time, I was nearly depressed but as I got out of the situation, I managed to learn more about life during this short period then I could in, perhaps, years?
Thank you Syaf for your kind words and I’m glad that you came out stronger than before from whatever situation was depressing you. Keep it up my friend.
“Take risks. Calculated risks and let the failures of your life teach you lessons that you would never learn otherwise. Respect your failures—always! They are one of your greatest assets.”
Thank you for this article! It puts things in perspective for me as this is where I am… learning to move out in a totally new direction. I know I may stumble along the way, make a wrong turn or two.. but how will I ever get started on this new journey? As Syaf said:”I managed to learn more about life during that short period…” (difficulty) I am listening to myself, and learning about myself more each day. I am also moving forward, despite a few stumbles.
Dear Barbara,
I’m glad you could relate to this article. I would like to say that you are in a good place, for there is no better place in your life other than the place where you face towards a new direction that your heart calls for.
With regard to negative emotions, it is embracing them and feeling them directly and without intervention from the intellect that allows them to dissipate. That’s my experience, and I believe that all buddhist, hindu and taoist teachings point towards this experience.
The Persian poet Attar wrote:
What you most want,
what you travel around wishing to find,
lose yourself as lovers lose themselves,
and you’ll be that.
I think that when it comes to describing intuitive concepts, poetry is often more objective than analysis. That’s my take!
Very inspiration. You said, “Life believes in you.” But we must first believe in ourselves, as you believe in YOURSELF to create, cultivate and keep this blog alive and well. We must believe in our dreams, work towards our goal and give back when we can.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. I absolutely love life and want to live it to the fullest. Savouring every moment. Also the so called ‘bad ones’. Thanks for sharing, Peter.
Not often do we think about the one special moment – life has become fast, quick and burdened – its not easy breaking away and identifying the one moment for you.
Very inspiring post indeed.
You’re right Abubakar. I believe we are here to learn lessons to enrich our souls. And going with the constant ebb and flow is the best way to live. Of course, knowing what lessons we are currently undergoing could give us an opportunity to learn them faster and stop the pain. The more pain there is, the harder the lesson. I’ve been learning this for many years now and do appreciate the tranquil moments.
”When you are happy you let that happiness fill your soul and when you are filled with sorrow, you get out of yourself and experience the beauty of sadness. Yes there is beauty in sorrows too.”
This.
Too often it seems we spend our time focusing on the unhappy times, pondering, wallowing in it – and barely a moment truly appreciating the happy times.
A little jiggle of perception and, as you say, we can turn things around.
Thanks for the advice!
ChrisF
Fantastic post Abubakar! All too often many of us dwell on the past and bad experiences as opposed to making the most out of the present. But then again, without experiencing the somewhat unavoidable emotional situations in life.. we wouldn’t appreciate why exactly the grass ‘really is green on the other side’.
Thanks for making my day and giving me that extra bit of inspiration to power on! Best of luck for 2012!