Have you ever been so caught up re-living an event from the past, counting and recounting the ways in which the circumstance could have gone so much better if only you’d said or done some things differently in that moment? Playing in your mind like a movie reel with alternate endings based on all of the things you’d change if you had the chance?

Or, have you found yourself overtaken with anxiety about something that hasn’t happened yet that you make yourself sick with the anticipation of how things will end up?

Of course you have; we all do this. We all get so caught up sometimes with the “could’ve, would’ve, should’ve’s” from the past or worrying about something in our future that we lose sight altogether of the present moment.

Since the present now is all that we are ever really experiencing from moment to moment doesn’t it make more sense to put our attention on what’s happening right before us?

It is in the “now” that joy, passion, abundance, and bliss reside and the more we are able to stay present to our now the more those things will begin to manifest as our life experiences. The now is where growth occurs. The now is where happiness can be found. The now is that magic portal from worry or regret into a more peaceful, content, and fulfilled mind.

If I find myself in a space of reliving the past or fretting over tomorrow, I use a little trick to bring my mind back to the present moment by naming three things that are happening right now. “I see a black car.”, “I hear a baby crying.”, or “I can feel the wind blowing on my face.” If we can point out three things that are happening right now it is a really good way to bring our attention to the present moment and reclaim our runaway thoughts.

Give this a try this week and let me know what you think!