Living in the moment involves mindfulness and curiosity, focusing on the present and avoiding excessive thoughts about the past or future.
Recognizing uncertainty and embracing change leads to a happier life, appreciating the ever-evolving nature of everything and actively noticing new things.
Deep dives
Living in the Moment: Mindfulness and Curiosity
Living in the moment involves mindfulness and curiosity. Mindfulness focuses on being fully present in the current timeframe, avoiding thoughts about the past or future. The ability to live in other time periods is unique to humans but can lead to excessive thinking about the future or past. Cultivating curiosity alongside mindfulness can make the present moment engaging and pleasurable.
The Importance of Noticing and Uncertainty
Being fully alive is about actively noticing new things, which enlivens the mind. Recognizing uncertainty and the ever-changing nature of everything keeps life interesting. Mindfulness involves appreciating uncertainty and acknowledging that everything is constantly evolving. Noticing newness and embracing change can lead to a happier and more engaged life.
Balancing Prospection and Mindfulness
Prospection, or living in the future, is also vital for happiness, especially for optimistic and goal-oriented individuals. Setting long-term goals with learned optimism can drive success. Breaking these goals into achievable steps while living in day-tight compartments allows for a balance between prospection and mindfulness.
Mindfulness Practice for Happiness
Practicing mindfulness is essential for a good and balanced life. Being fully present and noticing what's happening around fosters happiness. A strategy of intention without attachment involves setting long-term goals, breaking them into manageable steps, and living in day-tight compartments to achieve both mindfulness and prospective thinking.
If there’s one thing we might regret at the end of life, it’s that we missed out on moments that mattered—not because we weren’t physically there, but because our mind wandered off to some unknown place.
In this episode of How to Build a Happy Life, we explore why it’s uniquely challenging to “live in the moment,” how we limit our own curiosity by assuming we know best, and why the illusion of stability pulls us from living every day fully, and in the moment. A conversation with Harvard University professor of psychology Dr. Ellen Langer helps us think through a daily struggle: How do I stay present?
This episode was produced by Rebecca Rashid and is hosted by Arthur C. Brooks. Editing by A. C. Valdez. Fact-check by Ena Alvarado. Sound design by Michael Raphael.
Be part of How to Build a Happy Life. Write to us at howtopodcast@theatlantic.com or leave us a voicemail at 925.967.2091.
Music by Trevor Kowalski (“Lion’s Drift,” “This Valley of Ours,” “Una Noche De Luces”), Stationary Sign (“Loose in the Park”), and Spectacles Wallet and Watch (“Last Pieces”).