Living life with one finger on the remote control.

I was driving in my car the other day, listening to a live talk on the radio, when I realised I missed parts of the talk because my mind was wondering. My very first instinct was to quickly rewind to the parts I missed so that I could listen to it. Off course, the option to rewind was not available.

A few days later, I was listening to the radio at home. The very same thing happened. I missed part of the live talk because my mind was wandering. This is a common phenomemon for us humanoids, our minds wander (we let it wander...).

It left me a little perplexed though. Not the phenomenon of a wandering mind, but the fact that 𝗜 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. This triggered something in my mind, but I didn’t dwell on it for much longer.

But then, not so long after the day at home when I was listening to the radio, I was on the phone with a friend and I did exactly the same thing. I was a little preoccupied - you know how it goes… With my earphones on, I had my hands free to do other things while my conversation on the phone could continue. It was with embarrassment that I realised I have not listened to some of the conversation because I was busy concentrating on something else.

Instantaneously, it struck me. I have become accustomed to the rewind button when listening to podcasts, educational video clips, training videos, some Masterclasses and Webinars, Netflix… 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘀𝗸.

Have I allowed certain things in my life to pass me by thinking I could simply press the rewind button and have a replay of things because I was not in the moment, I wasn’t present.

Life simply does not come with a remote control to rewind, fast-forward, pause or stop life as and when we want to. Life is not pre-recorded, it happens now. Now is gone, we cannot get it back. Now is exceptionally fast - if we don’t pay attention in the moment, the moment is over, gone, lost, forever.

The very first step to being in the moment is 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀.

Become aware of the fact that you are not in the moment, that you live either in the past moment or attempt to live in the future moment.

Being in the present is something we can learn to do. 𝗕𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗴𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀.

Find the “𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄” control button for your life and use it every single moment.