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It is difficult to live fully in the present

Francisco Miraval

 

A few months ago, at the beginning of the semester, one of my students told me, “I already studied philosophy in my native country and I didn’t like it.” And recently, at the beginning of the summer session, another student (from a different country), told me something similar. In both cases, my reaction was the same: it is very difficult to live fully in the present.

 

It is true philosophy is not for everybody, but that’s not the issue. The issue is that we live our present conditioned by a past that in many cases (and it seems even on purpose) prevents us from living and enjoying our present. And the longer we live on this earth, the more memories we accumulate to distract us from the present.

 

I tried to tell my students (one from Europe, the other one from Latin America) that neither of them was in their native countries, that the experience they had years ago may not necessarily be relevant for their present, that they were no longer the individuals they once were, and that they were now studying in a different language.

 

All that is true, but the truth is almost irrelevant against that accumulation of linked memories that philosophers and psychologists call “Ego.” And many times we identify ourselves with that Ego, assuming we are that accumulation of memories. The Ego only wants to protect itself and, therefore, everything is a threat to it, including the present.

 

Of course, it is not only the past preventing us from living the present. In many cases, the future has the same impact. I frequently meet people with whom I would like to have a conversation, but I can’t, because they are more focused on future events than on talking with me.

 

Sometimes they talk about trivia activities and in other cases they have important responsibilities to fulfill. Regardless, the future prevents them from enjoying the present and from paying attention to their present.

 

And, as it is obvious, the present also prevents us from focusing on the present. I recently attended a breakfast where a dozen business persons gathered to listen to an expert on community development. All of the participants were physically there, but their minds were clearly somewhere else, as it was shown by the constant use of their cell phones.

 

This is similar to the common situation of a driver who is on the phone (or doing something else) almost oblivious to where they are and what they are doing, putting many people and even themselves at risk. And I need to mention those students who assume checking social network updates is more important than paying any attention to whatever is happening in the classroom.

 

For those reasons, it is difficult to live in the present, because we are constantly struggling against the past, facing the challenging of the future, and being distracted by the present. Meanwhile, life goes on and it seems that we live unaware that our life is going on.

 

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