You have probably heard of the term 'mindfulness' a number of times, probably from New Age people, yogis, meditation gurus, and others who are into spiritualism. This is because mindfulness is something that they practice on a daily basis. It is not just a fad that they do but it is an important part of their everyday life. And you will understand why after reading this chapter.

But do you really know what mindfulness means? There are several definitions associated to this word—some may be familiar to you while others may sound completely new. One thing is for sure, though. Whatever the definition of this term, you cannot deny the fact that it is something that you need to achieve a life free from stress and anxiety.

Mindfulness is being in the present moment

This is the most common definition of mindfulness and this is probably what you already know about the word. In today's world, people are all too consumed about the future that they spend a lot of time thinking about it. You probably spend a lot of time planning about the future as well—whether it is a few hours or years from now. You have a notebook full of lists of tasks that you need to do and goals that you want to achieve. You create a schedule of activities for the next day, the next week, the next moths, and so on.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with thinking about the future and planning for it. It is, in fact, essential to plan for the future especially if you have small children who rely on you. Planning for the future is also important if you want to have a good life after retirement, when you can no longer work and you do not have a fixed source of income to support your daily needs. Planning for the future is something that every responsible adult should do.

But when does it become a negative thing? It becomes a negative thing when you think about the future too much that it causes you a lot of stress and anxiety. Anything in excess is not good, as you probably already know. You should not stop planning for the future, but you should not let it keep you from enjoying the present moment.

And this is what mindfulness is all about—being in the present moment. One powerful mantra that you should always remember is to not let the future take away your present. Do not let yourself become too preoccupied with the future that you neglect to enjoy the moment you are currently in. You may not notice it but thinking about what will or might happen in the future takes away the precious moments of the present that you should be enjoying.

For example, if you are on a vacation that you are enjoying so much, but then it suddenly crossed your mind that in a few days your vacation is about to end and you will be back to work, you will suddenly feel glum. Instead of completely enjoying your vacation, you feel sad because you thought about the future. You are letting your thoughts about the future steal away your enjoyment and your precious time. Of course, you already know that your vacation will end. You are not going to stay there forever, obviously. And you have to go back to work at a specified date and time. But why do you have to speed up that moment, when you can just sit back, relax, and enjoy every second of your vacation? Just let the time pass naturally.

This kind of thought process prevents you from enjoying the present because you are focused too much on something that will inevitably happen in the near future. And even if you are thinking about something that you like, for example, watching all your favorite TV series when you get back home, it still keeps you from enjoying the present because your mind is somewhere else. If you do this, you will miss out on a lot of things that are happening around you.

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