Focus On The Present
My daughter was squirming as it was time to write one page of sentences. First grade is a tricky time. The fun and carefree days of SKG are over, and the grind starts. Although only two months have passed, the jump feels substantial. With it comes the expectation of writing complete sentences, doing skip counting and having more control over language. Naturally, it feels daunting and, in the words of kids, boring.
So there was my daughter, crestfallen on her study table, because she had been dragged away from her playtime. In front of her was a blank page, except for a line written at the top. Her heart sank at the thought of having to spend a long time writing it; from the top, the page looked insurmountable. There were protests about not doing the whole page, which were ignored at the same speed with which they were raised.
She started writing the first line, completed it, looked at the rest of the page and felt defeated. The protests began again. However, this time I did something different. I covered the rest of the page and asked her to focus on just the following line. The handwriting improved, the protests decreased, and she finished the page at a faster pace than she would typically do.
It got me thinking about being in the present and not focusing on the future. In mathematical terms, "present" is a differential and time is an integral. What shape the curve takes depends upon what you do at this moment. We spend a lot of our lives planning for what to do rather than doing things in the present. It only leads to anxiety.
The only thing that needs to be checked, and over which we have control, is what we do now. That is the only agency which we have, the only choice which we have. We do not control our past or the future. So there is no point worrying about the future or even imagining it. There is no reason to be despondent about the past. Both of these are outside our control. What should matter the most is what we are doing right now, in this moment, and whether we are utilising it to the full extent. Get this right, and the curve would bend according to your will.
