It's a struggle sometimes to stay focused on the current moment. To be present. 

It's tempting to have one foot always in the past with regret/rose tinted spectacles or one foot in the future - postponing happiness until some point where magically everything is good. 

It's like being the hamster running on the wheel - we need to be looking straight down at where our feet are stepping at the current moment in time or we'll fall over. It's good to glance ahead/behind once in a while but you can't spend too long. 

I think life is a bit like this. Spend too long reminiscing or waiting for some future point to be happy or start on projects and you'll fall over. 

So each day is really is an opportunity to be present and get on with the things we can. To try to learn to enjoy the journey. 

Here's a 5 minute read on the quiet art of attention which was nice:

"There comes a moment in life, often in the quietest of hours, when one realizes that the world will continue on its wayward course, indifferent to our desires or frustrations. And it is then, perhaps, that a subtle truth begins to emerge: the only thing we truly possess, the only thing we might, with enough care, exert some mastery over, is our mind."

Read the full thing here

You Are Here by Thich Nhat Hanh

I also liked this quote from Thich Nhat Hanh, a vietnamese Buddhist monk - known as the father of mindfulness. It popped up in my highlighted kindle notes and seemed to connect to the article above:

"Has the most wonderful moment of your life already happened?

Ask yourself that question. Most of us will answer that it hasn’t happened yet, but that it could happen at any time. No matter how old we are, we tend to feel that the most wonderful moment of our life has not happened yet.

We fear maybe it’s too late, but we are still hoping. But the truth is, if we continue to live in forgetfulness—that is, without the presence of mindfulness—that moment is never going to happen.

The teaching of the Buddha tells you clearly and plainly to make this the most magnificent and wonderful moment of your life. This present moment must become the most wonderful moment in your life.

All you need to transform this present moment into a wonderful one is freedom. All you need to do is free yourself from your worries and preoccupations about the past, the future, and so on."