Why Is It Hard to Live for the Moment

As someone who struggles, as so many of us, to keep ruminations about the past, and worries about the future at bay, I found Dr. Eyal's article both fascinating and very reassuring! Research has shown too that women more than men tend to mull over past disappointments, which may also be hardwired into the brain. So, many thanks for this!

The only area in which I take issue is the statement, and the assumptions behind it, that" Other species have instincts and reflexes to help with their survival, but human survival relies very much on learning and planning."

Most recent research by ethologists and neuro-biologists suggest otherwise. Many non-human animals do plan and do learn. While some part of their behavior and responses is instinctive and reflexive, as is the case for us human beings of course, many of their actions are deliberate and certain animal species as we know are highly aware of themselves and of time spans. One has only to read about the analytical abilities of crows meeting a complex situation for the first time to see that they analyze and plan their subsequent interaction with that place or event. Ants actually teach their comrades a new route to their new ant hill.

Likewise, one has only to look at one's companion animal, such as a dog or cat, to see that they very much plan (and even plot!"), learning what our schedules our, how to please us, and even organizing extremely astute give-me-a-snack "campaigns" to get us to do their bidding! And watch a dog while he or she sleeps. The jerks, and sighs, and even moans suggest a complex reappraisal of their past experiences, and the way they quake when taking to the vet shows they certainly can anticipate and have learned what the future holds for them, at least in the short term.

I look forward to reading Dr. Winter's book "Feeling Smart: Why 0ur Emotions are More Rational Than We Think" and will be interested to see in what ways his research may also apply to non-human animals.

Hi

Just as the Bible teaches there is a time for everything.
So, there are times to live in the future and past and a time to live in the moment.
Mostly we're in several at once which make their own peculiar flavor

I have had experience in the past with worrying about the past and the future. I stressed so much that I gave myself migraines that would last for weeks at a time. Constantly worrying about what I just did, what are others thinking about me, and what next? I thought I had to be prepared for everything. I couldn't just stop and worry about me right in the now. My ways/beliefs grounded me and help me stop stressing. It has made me a happier person and has allowed me to enjoy things. Being selfish has given me happiness.

It is hard to live in present because we are stuck with the past or future through worry. This is the result of wrong intellect or incomplete understanding. The Holy Bible says that there is time for everything. Even Shrimad Bhagavad Gita has said it. It actually means that our worry or anxiety is not going to change anything that is already destined. Nothing is going to happen before time or after time.

But we still worry. Why? This is because of our own attachment. So, living in present becomes easier if we understand the negative consequences of worrying and attachment.

The following sources may help:

http://www.dadabhagwan.org/path-to-happiness/self-help/how-to-stop-worrying/worry-about-future/

http://www.dadabhagwan.org/path-to-happiness/self-help/how-to-stop-worrying/live-in-present/

http://www.dadabhagwan.org/path-to-happiness/self-help/live-in-the-present/how-to-live-in-the-present/

I find this article insightful in many aspects, but I do have one question for Dr. Winter. The article seems to specifically address past ruminations as regrets for one's own behavior and how we can more easily forgive the past self for our own transgressions. But what if past ruminations are about being the object of some other person's negative actions. If you diminish the past self, are you also diminishing the past self's natural emotions around the event?

This reminds me of a the Bob Dylan quote - "I change during the course of a day. I wake and I'm one person, and when I go to sleep I know for certain I'm somebody else." What a wise one man he was! Real thought provoking article, thanks!

Are you implying (2nd paragraph) that we Americans (U.S.), don't eat what we like and simply dispose of the rest? because according to the commercials about 'saving the food', we already do this to a great degree (40%). I am just curious because you seem to use this as some sort of framework for your thesis.

Thank you for this article Dr. Winter.
I agree to some extend, but I don't think this is the entire truth. Living in the present is definitely better than living in the past and future. However, I made the biggest mistakes in my life when I was happily living in the present. These decisions were not in line with my consciousness. I have thought a lot about this. How can I feel totally fine and yet make entirely different decisions than the ones that I deep down want (the decisions that my awareness wants...) My awareness does not exist in space, so I had to conclude it also doesn't exist in time. The only conclusion that I can draw about the present is that it's the point in time where the interface of our awareness, i.e. our body can impact reality. Our physical appearances cannot impact the past, nor the future, so obviously we have to live with our bodies and brains in the present, but keep our awareness timeless.