Live in The Moment

Recently, I spent time talking with a neighbor whom I got to know during the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. We spent many days in her living room talking about life and connecting. I never knew she was originally from North Georgia where my mentor lives.

I stopped in to check in on my neighbor because I knew she had been having health issues and wasn’t home for a month. What started as sepsis ended up revealing she had stage IV colon cancer. Needless to say, everyone was shocked and saddened by her diagnosis.

We were all relieved to finally have her back home after 30 days bouncing between hospitals and rehabilitation centers and now she begins her chemotherapy for her second battle with cancer. During those days we spent talking at her home after the storm, we never imagined she would soon face a personal storm that few could understand.

It reminded me how we get too focused on the future or what we want instead of living one day at a time. We avoid the present out of our ignorance of the future for various reasons.

• Hopeful
• Stressed
• Inpatient

After my accident, I was headstrong about speeding through my recovery so I could get back to my normal life and finish school. I was so laser-focused on my goals and my hopes that I was out of touch with reality.

Even with the doctor’s warnings, I foolishly tried my best to get out of the hospital as soon as possible. I didn’t know at the time how my brain injury had changed me forever. I didn’t understand that my TBI caused me to be impatient, made it harder for me to process information, and caused me to struggle to focus. My T. B. I. taught me to live in the moment, instead of being fixated on the future or the past.

Live in the Moment

It’s been a hard year for a lot of people, especially for those of us living in the southeast. People have lost their lives and loved ones. Others have lost their livelihood and many more have lost their homes.

Perhaps that’s why many of us all looking forward to the holidays and the new year. We want to get lost in the hustle of the holidays and forget the hardships of 2024. Hopefully, the holidays will distract us from the hardships of the year.

We want to spend time with our friends and loved ones whom we don’t get to enjoy quite enough throughout the year. However, the holidays seem to speed by themselves.

Instead of trying to rush through life, we need to slow down appreciate what we have, and live in the moment. If anything, 2024 should have taught all of us that tomorrow isn’t guaranteed and no one knows what the future holds.

Many people didn’t live to see the holidays and many who did have no homes to celebrate with their loved ones. It shouldn’t take the holidays to help us make memories and appreciate the time together.  Daily living in the moment helps us enjoy the journey, instead of dreading it.

The Writing Journey

As writers, we have goals and dreams that each of us is working towards. Sometimes we are focused more on the destination, than the journey. We learn early on from the writing community, that a writing career is a marathon and not a sprint.

Even as writers, we need to slow down and live in the moment. Because when we rush the process and the journey, we miss out on the information and opportunities that are critical for the writing path.

It is the journey that prepares us for the career and helps us to polish our prose so it stands the test of time. The journey is what prepares us for the destination. There are benefits for writers to live in the moment, instead of stressing and focusing on the future.

1. Shape your voice
2. Hone your skills
3. Network
4. Build platform and brand
5. Health benefits

Journeys are best experienced, not exacerbated. When we rush the process, we short ourselves invaluable experiences and wisdom. Some ways we can live in the moment as writers are: grounding techniques and mindfulness exercises, putting away distractions, plan our to-do’s so you can focus on the moment, practicing gratitude, rest, be habitual.

Don’t miss the little things on the journey to your big destination or dream. Be thankful for the little things and even the hard things. Writers need to learn to practice an attitude of gratitude.

Be Thankful

Now that the holidays have officially arrived, most of us will slow down and give thanks for the blessings we have been given. However, we often forget to be grateful for our hardships.

It is our struggles that make us stronger and help build our endurance. As writers, we can be thankful for closed doors, rejections, and lost opportunities. Learning to accept our disappointments helps us be present and prepares us for the future. Below are some fruits of enduring the disappointments of the writing journey.

• Experience
• Humility
• Wisdom
• Thick skin

If you haven’t learned by now, a writing career comes with criticism and professional feedback. After my accident, the hardest lesson for me to learn was that I would never be the same.

I will never forget the time I fell off of the toilet in the hospital (disclaimer: this video contains medically graphic images), because it taught me that I was not ready to go home or return to my daily routines. It humbled me. It also taught me to appreciate the little things of life. Hardships can force us to learn to live in the moment.

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at MartinThomasJohnson.com  and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.