Where are you?
Are your thoughts pulling you away from what you’re doing? Have you ever been having a conversation, nodding your head and you’re actually “off in your head” thinking about what you’ve got to do later or something that happened earlier? Have you ever been asked what you did today and not been able to recall anything? Russ Harris’ chapter titled “The Time Machine” in The Happiness Trap tries to help us understand the amount of time we spend “worrying about, planning for, or dreaming of the future, and the huge amount of time rehashing the past.” A large part of every day, our thinking self hijacks our attention from the present moment.
If we aren’t fully engaged in the present moment, we are missing out on the incredible world around us. When we are only half present with family and friends, we aren’t even connected with ourselves. Connection is one of the six core principles of ACT. Connection is being fully aware of your here and now experience.
Why is it important to pay attention to what’s happening right here, right now? Harris describes three main reasons:
“This is the only life you’ve got, so make the most of it. If you are only half present, you are missing out.”
“To create a meaningful life, we have to take action. And the power to act exists only in this moment. The past has already happened and the future doesn’t exist yet, so we can only ever take action here and now.”
“Taking action doesn’t mean just any old action. It must be effective action; action that helps us move in a valued direction.” (Harris, P. 124)
If we aren’t fully engaged in the present moment, we are missing out on the incredible world around us. When we are only half present with family and friends, we aren’t even connected with ourselves. Connection is one of the six core principles of ACT. Connection is being fully aware of your here and now experience.
Connecting to the present moment rarely lasts for long. That is why developing awareness of the ways in which your attention is pulled away from the present moment along with practicing exercises to strengthen connecting to the moment can be helpful. Building awareness of the body, of the breath, of sounds and connecting through morning routines are just a few ways to build connection. Check out the four short connection exercises Harris provides in his book to help strengthen your awareness and connect to the present moment.
Reflection: “See the link between your thinking and emotions. Rather than being your thoughts and emotions, be the awareness behind them.” Eckhart Tolle
Action: Make a commitment to practice one or two of the connection exercises each day over the next month.
Tool: Connection Exercises