• image.alt
  • With Mayo Clinic oncologist

    Edward T. Creagan, M.D.

    read biography

Mayo Clinic Health Manager

Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.

Get Started

Free

E-Newsletter

Subscribe to receive the latest updates on health topics. About our newsletters

  • Housecall
  • Alzheimer's caregiving
  • Living with cancer

  • Stress blog

  • Oct. 4, 2007

    Living in the present — Can you help?

    By Edward T. Creagan, M.D.

25 comments posted

What I am learning from our fellow travelers is the notion of self care and taking time for ourselves.

Let me share with you a recent, powerful experience. A high-octane professional couple had planned to get married in a large Midwestern city. Each has a highly visible career and lots of friends. But as the wedding plans took shape over the last few months, it began to feel to them as if the circus was coming to town, and they were the trained animals. All the details and soaring expenses were mind-numbing and the bride and groom just about melted down.

So what did they do ahead of time? Called off the huge event and decided to tie the knot outside the country.

They went to Vietnam and got married by a Buddhist monk last weekend. Here is what he shared with the wedding party:

"The past is no longer here, the future is not here yet; there is only one moment in which life is available ... and that is the present moment."

My question is, how can we help each other learn from that statement?

Have a safe, serene and prosperous week, my friends. Dr. Ed

25 comments posted

blog index

  • February 27, 2008 12:24 p.m.

    To "stressed out to the point of no return"- I hope you find this message and that it helps even in some small way. Because we live in a culture where everyone is self centered and expect others to "fix" their own problems-its hard to find any compassion when you need it most.I understand that. I too feel "stressed out to the point of no return", but I still try to hang on to life and hope.I know it isn`t easy,but urge you to try to do the same.You matter! Your life matters! "There is a saying,"It`s always darkest before the dawn.Life may feel very bleak at the moment,but hold on to discover a brighter moment that is coming! Don`t cheat yourself out of that blessing!If you give up, the hard times win. They don`t deserve to win- You do!Hope this didn`t sound too preachy. I only meant to encourage you.May all of us "stressed out" people find the relief in life that we need.God bless you .Hang in there. J.L.

    - No name given

  • December 12, 2007 12:23 a.m.

    I am looking for a balance between thinking and doing. If times are really hard decisions are easier. Priorites are more obvious. If you have time to think then it becomes more of a challenge to keep those thoughts uplifting you. I tell myself often if I have time to think then life must be good. The natural balance is upset in our world.

    - Jamie

  • November 27, 2007 9:50 p.m.

    I highly recommend the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program at Duke University's Center for Integrative Medicine to those who live nearby Durham, NC. It is patterned after the program founded by Jon Kabat Zin at Univ. of Mass. The Center's website is www.dukeintegrativemedicine.org.

    - gc

  • November 14, 2007 1:58 p.m.

    I've had it. People say stress kills and I'm not sure if dying is easier than dealing with the stress. This isn't just trivial things, its things that are closest to the heart.

    - stressed out to the point of no return

  • October 30, 2007 6:34 p.m.

    One can't live in the present if they are holding onto the past. Sometimes, investing in therapy for a year or two to clean up the crap in your life is a good thing. It also teaches you skills for living in the present.

    - Donna

  • October 18, 2007 8:15 p.m.

    October 19, 2007 8:00 PM Stress kills. Learn to live one day at a time. O ctober 19, 2007 8:00PM

    - evelyn

  • October 18, 2007 4:23 p.m.

    I have heard the quote of today being the "present" and am grateful for it, but today's society is so geared for the future - good for you for posting these "stress" problems as that is today's illness generator....

    - Doreen

  • October 18, 2007 4:02 p.m.

    WELL, THE PRESENT IS A STRESS! PAST AND FUTURE ARE NOT THE PROBLEM. TODAY, COST OF LIVING ON FIXED INCOMES AFTER HEALTH ISSUES ATE UP FINANCIAL SECURITY CAUSE TOO MANY STRESSES. LETTING GO KEEPS SOME SANITY AND STRES RELIEF BUT, NOT ENOUGH WHEN YOU KNOW YOU WAKE UP TOMMORROW WITH ALL THE EXTRA BAGGAGE OF TRYING TO MAKE IT ONE MORE DAY. YES, HUMOR, MEDITATION, EXCERCISE, HOBBIES ETC ARE ALL GOOD FACTORS TO HAVE. RESILENT PEOPLE STILL FIND MONEY ISSUES, HEALTH ISSUES AND OTHER THINGS CAN BE PROCESSED ONE AT A TIME ETC BUT, RESILENT CAN ONLY HELP WHEN THINGS ARE MANAGEABLE OR CONTROLLED BY THE PERSON. THE ONLY CONTROL ONE HAS IS THIER OWN! SO TRY AND TRY AGAIN AND BE AS POSITIVE (EITHER WAY) ONE CAN BE! TAKE CARE OF YOU!

    - ANNE

  • October 17, 2007 10:34 a.m.

    It's very hard to live in the present when the past things are not settled. I took 5 days packed a suitcase and went to a hotel on the beach came back and it was like they disappeared, they did not, but I had a new outlook of peace.

    - lorrie

  • October 17, 2007 7:28 a.m.

    Speaking of living in the presant. I moved to Kauai a few months ago realizing how important somethings are and somethings are not. 60 mintues did a segment on the hours some people spend working called 24/7. I realized how lucky or shall I say blessed I really am. I have been given a true gift, to live in the presant. ( especially on my days off on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world) ALOHA

    - carolyn

  • October 16, 2007 2:31 p.m.

    I highly recommend yoga and meditation. I teach it at the Skyway YMCA in downtown St. Paul. I'm a Kripalu certified yoga teacher and there is a lot of focus on the breath and body awareness during my classes. Focusing on the breath and what is going on in the the body right now, surely helps to focus on the present moment.

    - Brenda

  • October 13, 2007 5:42 a.m.

    When I feel over-stressed I try to "break it down". We let worries and tasks pile up until we are overwhelmed and look to the past for comfort and the future for motivation. In the present you can do one small thing and bask in your accomplishment. Stress gone!

    - Sandy

  • October 13, 2007 5:39 a.m.

    The way I successfully stay in the moment is to "break it down". We let things (worries) pile up until we are overwhelmed and stress takes over. When stressed do something small and feel good about your accomplishment.

    - Sandy

  • October 10, 2007 1:43 p.m.

    Don't waste your time waiting for a miracle.You can't change the past,don't agonize over it.The future is an unknown so unworthy of worry. The present is here, now. Make the most of it.

    - Catherine

  • October 10, 2007 2:42 a.m.

    Get up everyday, especially when it's difficult. Accomplish some tasks, take the dog or a friend for a walk! Pray and thank God for all the good things He's given to you...and acknowledge your achievements - big and small. Please know that God wants to give you even more than you can ask for. Ask for His favor, tell him your needs, expect good things to happen. Be good to yourself; help yourself and try to help others around you when you get the chance. This is your "service" to God and it's good to know that you can help ease someone else's load a bit. Believeing in happiness is starting to become easier now. I have a way to go, but I know if I stay in faith, help myself and others too, that I should be just fine. I'll hope and pray that you will be too :o)

    - Cindi

  • October 9, 2007 11:18 p.m.

    Past is history, furture is a mystery, present is the Gift of God, that is why it is called "The Present".

    - Kushal Kumar

  • October 9, 2007 10:15 a.m.

    I suffer from stress too.I light up aroma therapy candles and listen to some music and shut off my phone.Other times I go spend time with loved ones

    - Laura Alasadi

  • October 8, 2007 2:59 p.m.

    Tai chi helps me, but when go work such narrow minded discontented unhappy people make me cringe I am from overseas and they always ask why yu so happy, what have yu got to smile about,you rent apt, have dog and family, no husbnad, no money retirement, ah but I have beautiful memories of travel, when I did, its not all about money, cant take fancy house car with us when we go, some two job people,stay tired and so misearble, can cause stress and bring low moral into work, so I will keep smiling do my Ohm .regards to all Max, and think my beautiful thoughts of tranquility.

    - max

  • October 6, 2007 11:12 a.m.

    Taking time to become aware of the one's breathing is useful in bringing a person back to the present moment. As a professional, I tend to worry excessively about making a mistake and being sued, or being sued frivolously. Worry can drain the joy from the moment--yet the moment is all that exists. There is a line of poetry from Edward Fitzgerald written in the 19th century, that I bring to mind to help refocus: "Ah, my Belovéd, fill the Cup that clears TODAY of past Regrets and future Fears: To-morrow!--Why, To-morrow I may be Myself with Yesterday's Sev'n thousand Years. I interpret "Cup" as being a metaphor for the cup of joy.

    - Alan

  • October 5, 2007 9:55 p.m.

    Hi Flori try not to live in future ok

    - mv

  • October 5, 2007 8:44 p.m.

    I'm always living in the future and it really puts a lot of stress on me.

    - flordeluna

  • October 5, 2007 11:31 a.m.

    Living in the moment gives you the power and clarity to do the right thing. You don

    - kai

  • October 5, 2007 11:23 a.m.

    I pretty much try to follow that same way of thinking Dr. Ed, but instead say "today is a gift, that's why it's called the present" - makes today feel special.

    - Miranda

  • October 5, 2007 10:10 a.m.

    Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction or MBSR was created by Jon Kabat Zin at the Univ. of Massachusetts Medical School. Being in the moment meditation is what MBSR is all about. This is their website at the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Heal Care, and Society www.umassmed.edu/cfm

    - Debria

  • October 5, 2007 10:00 a.m.

    Living in the moment is good, but how do you do that if the past and future affect your present? I believe in taking time for ourselves - that life is too short. But sometimes our past and future ruin it. I am tired of waiting for a miracle.

    - tiredofwaiting

Post a comment

Text Size: smaller largerlarger