Living In The Moment

Summer 2021 - Collage

Thirteen weeks. Now that might not seem like a long time to many people, but for me, this may be the most amount of weeks I will ever be away from school. I have to admit, whilst I have enjoyed every moment of it, I am now ready to implement some structure back into my life. However, within the following three sections, I will discuss the lessons I learnt during this time and how I plan to use these going forward, as I feel that I have somewhat grown. I would also like to preface this by stating that the following post merely consists of my thoughts and opinions, which you can either choose to listen to or ignore.

Lesson 1 - Living In The Moment.

This first lesson links directly to the three-day glamping trip I went on with my cousin. It was merely a short break, but this truly allowed me to disconnect from my thoughts.

The first evening on which we arrived, we had a conversation where we discussed how time sometimes feels as though it is slipping away. We spoke about how, on many occasions, we are guilty of allowing precious experiences to pass us by without fully appreciating them. Proceeding this, we went on a leisurely walk around the surrounding field and put the ‘living in the moment’ mindset into it: we were dead silent, we gazed at the scenery, we breathed in the air around us. Whilst this may seem odd and “too deep” for some, it allowed us to appreciate where we were; I have used this breathing technique almost every day since that moment. From this, I would tell everyone to be unafraid of switching off. Appreciate your surroundings and embrace serenity to recognise the glorious moments in your life. I have not been able to embrace this lesson entirely yet, but it is something that I feel many people need to learn, including myself.

During this trip, we also attempted to meditate. In the past, I have been apprehensive about this method as I was wary that my mind wouldn’t switch off. But after meditating, we both felt revitalised with energy and ready for the rest of the day. This sudden realisation that I had found a method to calm myself down was almost eye-opening as I could now, very quickly, reduce my levels of stress. Following that moment, we meditated two more times, even doing it outside once (which was great but didn’t last too long because a bug crawled into my ear and a bee harassed us). Upon returning home, I have used mediation to send myself to sleep almost every night as it sends me to sleep almost instantly. So if anyone is struggling to find a method of reducing stress, I would highly recommend meditation, even if, much like me, you use a ten-minute clip from YouTube.

Therefore the focal point of this lesson is to highlight the idea of not allowing any moments to slip from within our grasp, which is something all of us are responsible for doing on occasion.

I also wanted to mention the Glamping location and YouTube video that I used for meditation:

• Glamping - Rankin’s Farm, Maidstone.

• Meditation - ’10-Minute Meditation For Sleep’ by Goodful on Youtube.

Lesson 2 - Finding A Balance.

Lesson two focuses upon achieving a balance between all aspects of your life. As I continue to grow up, this particular lesson becomes ever more pressing as the number of responsibilities increases and will continue to increase.

During the first four weeks of the break, this was not an issue as I allowed myself to complete no school work. It was amazing. I got the bus to places with my friends two or three times a week. I went on walks with lots of people. And I detached from everything that caused me stress.

But obviously, this peaceful mentality is not always achievable. For instance, once I had completed the week-long Sixth Form induction, I suddenly had to factor in school work that included learning content and completing exam questions from Maths, Physics and Chemistry. Techniques I used to deal with this included:

• Making a revision timetable to monitor the number of hours I spent studying.

• Not allowing myself to work past 2 pm every day to ensure that I did not consume my entire day with work.

• And playing video games, baking, walking or reading in my free time so that I did not become bored and could maintain motivation within my studies due to a PMA, as I discussed in more detail in my previous post.

For me, the most vital aspect of finding a balance is allowing myself to do nothing. Now, this does not mean losing motivation, because my point is that not feeling guilty when you have a day doing absolutely nothing is extremely important. Without this, you can never truly relax as you cannot disconnect from worrying thoughts that can consume your mind. This is something that I struggle with regularly as I prefer to feel productive, however, it is a skill I need to and will implement into my normal way of thinking.

Lesson 3 - Determination.

The final lesson I learnt is determination. In saying this, I am not implying that I have never felt determined in the past, but I did lack a clear goal. However as stated previously, this time away from stressful environments has allowed me to reflect upon such ambitions and come to a decision on which path I would like to follow in the future.

Currently, my goal is to study Physics at University. I have not yet decided on which University that will be and the subject could differ, but as of now, this is my plan. Due to this newfound ambition, I have already begun to make preparations to give myself the best possible chance of success: I have chosen A-Level subjects that all relate to Physics, I have started to complete extra reading, and I am working towards carrying out activities to use for my personal statement. I want to be as prepared as physically possible. I understand that this specific scenario does not apply to everybody, but the takeaway from it is that in having a final destination (like University or a promotion or a family goal) you can direct your focus into something productive. Also, such a way of thinking may not spur some people forward, so like every piece of advice, you can choose whether you adopt what I have said.

Lesson three may be the shortest of the three sections but it is possibly the most useful lesson I have learned. I feel that I now have something to work towards, which makes the daunting future seem a little bit less unpredictable.

In summary, I hope that what I have said has been useful in some way and much like myself, you can use some of these methods and ways of thinking when navigating through each day, one step at a time. Please feel free to share this post and comment with your thoughts!