Ashwin Gidwani

Ever since I was little kid, I can recall that I always focused on future events within my life. In elementary school, I thought to myself how I could not wait until I was in middle school. When I got to the 6th grade, all I could look forward to was going to high school. When I finally got to high school, I became so attracted to the concept of college. I could not wait for all the new people and experiences I would come across throughout those four years. And now here I am… Reflecting on all these events that have occurred within my life. Due to my previous behaviors, you may think that I have already pictured graduation and a career for myself three years from now. However, I have realized that I was living my life wrong this entire time. I had always envisioned myself being happier and more accomplished within a future state, and I never accepted who I was in the present moment. However, life is simply just a continuation of the present moment we are in. This much more pleasing “future” where I am happier is merely a continuation of this moment that exists right now. I would not want to ever say that I have "wasted" all those previous years of my life, but it makes me curious as to how many other people throughout this world may live with that exact same mindset I once had. Especially with life being incredibly challenging lately, I understand that it is easy to focus our attention to when life will one day be “better”. However, it is not until I accepted myself within the true presence of life that I was able to transform my mindset and accept anything that may come. I no longer desire for the future, as right now, I am only focused on enjoying the most wonderful gift of life: Presence.