in the moment

I recently read a book called The Art of Racing in the Rain.  The book is told from the perspective of the main character's dog.  The main character is a race car driver (which is something I have absolutely no interest in) but the book is more about the man-dog relationship than about race car driving. 

If you're a dog person, you should read this book.  Even if you're not a dog person, it's worth a read.   It's the sweetest thing. I loved reading a book narrated by someone who could not verbally communicate with the other characters.  All he could do was listen. It made for a really interesting perspective.

Throughout the book the dog storyteller (Enzo) talks about life from his perspective. One thing he discusses is how dogs live in the moment and humans tend to live in the past or the future.  He says that's the problem with humans.

Good memories, bad memories, sad times, no matter what, we tend to spend a huge part of our lives living in the past.  The rest of the time we are thinking about when something will happen.  We wait for a vacation or when we have that dream job, house, family, and so on. 

Rarely do we just live in the moment.

Some people are better at doing this than others.  I, for one, am horrible when it comes to living in the moment.  I am always thinking about what will happen next month, next year, or in 30 years. Sometimes I wish I had a crystal ball and could see my life in 30 years.  I want to know how it's all going to work out.  I want to know if I am making mistakes or not doing enough of something.  It stresses me out to not know.  I hate surprises.  When I was a kid, I would read the end of books before the beginning so I didn't have to live in suspense.  

Dogs live in the moment all the time.  It's their nature.  They remember things but they don't hold on to any crap and they're not worried about what will happen tomorrow.

While that would be a nice way to live, it does not really work for humans all the time. We have to plan for the future - both large and small details.  I like to plan and I love having a plan.  It makes me content.  However, I do want to be better at just living in the moment and not worrying so much about how it's all going to be at the end of my life. Things might not go as planned and even though it might be hard at times, it will still be ok.  

I know humans are the most intelligent beings, yet sometimes a sweet little dog can teach us a thing or two about living for each day and taking the good and the bad one day at a time.