I’ve been guilty of not living in the present moment. My mind constantly drifts between the past, replaying mistakes and regrets, and the future, anxiously wondering about the consequences of my actions. This endless back-and-forth leaves me forgetting to live in the **now**—the very moment that life is unfolding before me.
But what if we could break free from this mental tug-of-war and live fully in the present, consistently enjoying every second of life? What if there’s a formula—an art or science—that can allow us to stay grounded in the present moment?
I believe there is. It begins with **The Thought Theorem** and **The Brain-Heart Theory**, concepts that center on understanding how our minds and emotions interact to keep us anchored—or unanchored—from the present. By tapping into these ideas, we can stop dwelling on past failures or worrying about the future, and instead, fully embrace the here and now.
### **Understanding the Present Through Gratitude**
The first step to living in the present is to recognize what it feels like to truly be here. The most important emotion to focus on is **gratitude**. When you feel gratitude, it becomes impossible to entertain negativity. Gratitude sparks a chain reaction of positive emotions like happiness, contentment, and peace. And it’s in this state of mind that you begin to live fully in the moment.
We might not be able to stop generating thoughts altogether, as thoughts are a natural part of our consciousness. But we can guide them. We can steer them toward re-living positive past experiences and building positive future scenarios. When we do this, we create a snowball effect of positivity that keeps us grounded in the present.
### **The Relationship Between Thoughts and Time**
Have you ever wondered why time seems to fly when you’re having fun, but drags when you’re bored or anxious? The motion of time is constant, yet our perception of time is anything but. This is because our **thoughts** bend our reality of time in motion, even though they can’t change the actual passage of time.
When we’re having fun, our thoughts are focused on positive emotions. We lose track of time because we’re experiencing life in larger blocks of moments. But when we’re sad, worried, or stressed, we break down time into smaller, more painful units. Every second feels like a slog because we’re conscious of each moment’s discomfort.
Imagine this: let’s say the span of time to be experienced is 100 units. When we’re enjoying life, we might experience those 100 units in just five blocks—each block is large because we’re not fixating on time. But when we’re sad or anxious, we break that same 100 units into 20 blocks. Because each block is so small, we feel as though time is dragging. The more thoughts we generate, the thinner and smaller those blocks become, and the longer it takes to move through time.
### **Slowing Down Time by Slowing Down Thoughts**
What if we could slow down our thoughts to experience life more fully? By reducing the number of thoughts generated in a given timeframe, we can metaphorically **slow down time**. This doesn’t mean stopping our thoughts altogether—that’s impossible. But it does mean guiding our thoughts toward **positive past experiences** and **optimistic future projections**, stacking our mental blocks into bigger, fuller moments.
This is why practices like **meditation** help so much. Meditation reduces the number of thoughts per second, slowing down our brain waves and creating space for us to be more centered and present. During meditation, we adopt a third-person perspective, observing our thoughts without attaching emotions to them. This is key: thoughts about the past or future are inevitable, but we don’t have to **engage** with them.
Think of your thoughts as buses arriving at a stop. As an observer, you watch each bus come and go. You don’t need to get on the bus—you just let it pass. The same is true with thoughts. When a thought arises, you can acknowledge it without engaging emotionally. This keeps you from being swept away by either past regrets or future anxieties.
### **The Secret to Living in the Present**
The key takeaway from all of this is simple: **think less**. Live in the flow of life. Don’t let negative thoughts about the past or worries about the future consume you. When negative memories surface, acknowledge them, and let them pass. Do not dwell on them. When thinking about the future, focus only on positive outcomes. If a negative scenario pops up, break the circuit immediately—like cutting off the power supply before a fuse blows.
By mindfully practicing this approach, you’ll gradually turn it into a habit. Eventually, it will become muscle memory—an unconscious competence that allows you to live in a state of constant presence. This is what true **Nirvana** feels like: being fully immersed in the present moment, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
We can all learn the art of presence. It’s not about stopping thoughts but about guiding them toward positivity. It’s about letting go of the past, not worrying about the future, and finding joy in the present moment. And in doing so, we slow down time, savoring life in all its fullness.