Now what?

Ahhh...so Christmas is over, and the New Year is just around the corner and I am sitting here wondering where the days went? I feel as though the Christmas holiday passed me over and I'm not entirely sure I was even there. I wonder if I will ever learn to just live in the moment? It seems like I am always waiting and worrying about the next thing, and never truly enjoying the moments that I have. I am usually not very good at setting New Year goals and resolutions, they have often had to do with losing weight and are quit within a few months. This year I want to set a goal to live in my moments. I want to enjoy my life and the blessings I have been given. But how does one do that? How do you go from living for the next moment to simply living in the moment? An article called, "The Art of Now: Six steps to living in the moment" by Jay Dixit has some great ideas. The full article can be found here: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200810/the-art-now-six-steps-living-in-the-moment
My interpretation of these six steps are:
1. To improve your performance stop thinking about it..unselfconciousness
The article talks about losing yourself in the music if you are dancing. It is about living without constantly wondering what others are thinking of your efforts.
2. To avoid worrying about the future, focus on the present...savoring
Do I savor life? Do I truly enjoy the cookies I baked, or the chocolate I am eating? How about the laughs and giggles in my house? Am I so worried about what to have for dinner, that I forget to savor my breakfast? This step is about savoring the moments, I wonder if chocolate tastes different when savored?
3. If you want a future with your significant other, inhabit the present...breathe
Inhabiting the present gives you more control over your life. It allows you to take a step back from a situation, breathe, and then say to yourself, "I am experiencing an emotion, what should I do about it." Focusing on your breathing propels you into the now and has a powerful effect on the way you deal with others.
4. To make the most of time, lose track of it...flow
Flow happens when you are so engrossed in an activity that you lose track of time. This signifies a not a loss of time, but time that is being so well spent that you are truly living in those moments.
5. If something is bothering you move towards it rather than away from it...acceptance
I tend to pull away when a situation is bothering me. I am non-confrontational and prefer to just ignore situations that are tense. This step implies that the best moments to learn about ourselves are the ones where we are inclined to back away. The article says that when we avoid our feelings, we create new feelings about our avoidance. The best way to combat these unnecessary feelings is to accept the things we cannot change.
6. Know that you don't know
This step is about turning off the autopilot in our life and opening our eyes to new experiences, scenes, smells, and sights. It is about noticing the now. The article talks about driving to work and not remembering the drive at all, zoning out and just running on autopilot. Life passes us by when we allow the autopilot to take over.

Living in the moment is not about getting to a destination, it is about realizing that this is it. This moment, as I sit in my semi-comfortable chair I can hear my kids running through the house, I can feel the breeze from my ceiling fan on my arms. I can feel the keys beneath my fingertips. I can feel my breath as it fills my lungs and I can feel my chest fall as that breath is exhaled. I am alive and living in this moment and I am happy. What more do I need?