I’m going to pose a question. Once you read the question, it would be fantastic if you could take a few moments to consider your answer. Once you have your answer in mind, please move forward and give consideration to my response. If you truly seek happiness, fulfillment and even enlightenment, this question above all others is in my understanding the fundamental question, the one true question that matters and opens the pathways to all things.
“What is the most important moment in your life?”
As stated above, please give this question some thought and come up with your own answer before moving on. Thanks.
So, what is the most important moment in your life?
The truth is that the most important moment in your life is this moment, the very moment you are in right now. This is not a grandiose statement. It’s not because you are reading my letter. In fact, many of you will disagree initially. However, let me explain why this moment is the most important moment of your life, my life, or anybody else’s life.
The simple truth is that the moment you exist in right now is the only moment that is real.
Anything that happened before this moment is now a memory and any hopes or dreams of the future are just that, they are not real. What is real is this moment.
Let me explain further, as a father, two of the most memorable and beautiful times in my life were the births of my children. But the reality of this is that those times are now memories. It happened, it was real and they are the greatest memories of my life, but they are memories. Those moments have now passed, and whilst I can reflect on them from time to time, I cannot live in those moments, nor can I alter them. They are the past. If I chose to live in those memories or any memories for that matter, I do so at the expense of real life and the moment that I am actually living in. If I spend my time in my mind, I miss what is actually happening in reality at this moment and life is simply too short to live in my mind.
As someone who previously suffered from severe depression and severe anxiety, I can attest to the fact that depression is a fear of the past (a place where your mind lives without regard to the now), and that anxiety is a fear of the future (again, a place your mind lives without regard for the now). For me, I understand that true happiness can only exist in the Present moment. I now accept that my past occurred, I have dealt with this, and this acceptance allows me to move forward without my mind spending all its time in the past. Similarly with anxiety any time my mind starts to project forward to what may or may not occur, I catch that thought and bring my mind back to the moment I am in (after all I’m not psychic, I cannot tell the future, so why stress about it?)
Life happens in the moment. The present is where happiness and peace reside. The moment you exist in is the moment you make every decision, every judgement. The moment you are in is always the most important and it is the only one that is real.
If you experience heavy traffic, look around, most are stressed out, anxious about being late etc. But in that moment we all have a choice, we can accept that we cannot change the circumstances we find ourselves in (the traffic is out of our control), we can choose instead to take a moment, look out the window and admire the beauty of the world we live in. In the moment we can choose to be amazed and happy. The simple truth, this applies to essentially any moment of our lives. Bring your mind back, be mindful and embrace the moment that you have, because this moment, the one you are in right now, it’s the only moment that is real, so don’t miss out on life by living in your mind. I can attest to the fact that the world we live in and the people we love are amazing and beautiful and if we can embrace the moment, we can love our lives and find true happiness.
Life will throw us all curve balls and dark times, such as the loss of loved ones. However, I think much of the pain of loss comes from the missed moments, the moments we were together, but we weren’t truly present, opportunities lost. The loss of their love, their voice, their image. MyLettersTo does what it can to minimise this loss. By developing awareness, embracing the time we have and by allowing people to record all types of messages to ensure that our love will be passed on even in the darkest times. Living in the moment, understanding that the moment you are in is the only real moment will allow you to embrace your time and not miss out. Spend each moment embracing the time you have and share it with those you love. Take some of those moments and use them to send letters (written, verbal or video) to your loved ones. It’s a far better use of time than other platforms that consume our time.
As dark as the thought of loss or death may be to some, it is genuinely a motivating tool. I now embrace every moment. I look for joy in everything i do (even the mundane). I use my time to ensure i leave letters of love and hope to loved ones and others.
This moment is the only one that is real and I encourage you to embrace and use it to embrace your life, your loved ones and all the beauty in the world.