June 13, 2023 • 17 mins
In this episode, we explore the hard truth that we can only count on the present moment and eventual death. While this may seem like a dark and daunting reality, it actually empowers us to live life to the fullest and cherish the present moment. Join us as we dive deep into the concept of impermanence and how it can shift our perspective on life, relationships, and work. We'll also discuss practical ways to embrace the present moment and live with intention. So grab a cup of tea, sit back, and let's embrace the hard truth together.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to the Gold Medal Mindset Podcast. I
am your host, Barna huckaby three time Paralympic gold medalist snowboarder,
here to encourage you to live a gold medal life,
one that is full of confidence, resilient empowerment, so that
you can be successful in your goals without sacrificing your
mental health and the things you care about most in
(00:27):
this world. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to the Gold Metal Mindset
Podcast with me Brenda Huckabye. We are still in season one,
Episode seven, and I am just so happy to be
here with you guys talking about one of my favorite
concepts that I have worked so incredibly hard over the
last five years to fully embrace in my living day
(00:51):
to day and just being in the here and now.
And not long ago, I had posted on my Instagram
a photo with a quote that said, the only thing
you're going guaranteed is here and now in death. And
I know that quote could seem really dark, and I
know that there is tons of fear around death, and
I know that it's something that people struggle to confront
(01:12):
or think about because when we do that, maybe we
see a lot of shame pain, guilt in a lot
of ways that maybe we didn't live the way that
we wanted to in the past, and death is such
an amazing teacher. It can teach us everything we need
to know about living. Some of us have had to
come face to face with this truth, like me through cancer,
But once we jodged death, life can come back in
(01:34):
and suck us into the painful ways of being. So regardless,
I know firsthand of how impactful death is as a teacher,
and I want to give it to you without you
needing to nearly die. So I believe that there is
so much power in confronting the idea of death and
seeing in a way of impermanence that nothing we have,
good and bad in our life is forever, and we
(01:57):
have the power to choose how we see it and
how we live out our life, and how we take
those good and bad moments and turn them into something
that we can love and be proud of. Back in
twenty eighteen, after I won the Paralympic Games, I came
face to face with the fact that no achievement is
going to make me feel good or good enough. And
after winning the games, I felt joy in my achievement,
(02:17):
but shortly after I felt empty, and I learned the
hard way in the moment that no achievement can give
you what you crave on the inside. It may feel
good for a moment, but it cannot heal you. Shortly
after winning the games, I was like, well, I need
a new goal. Maybe that'll help. And before I started
this healing journey, I was like, Okay, well if I
can just make fifty thousand dollars, because at the time
(02:38):
I was not making anywhere close to that. I reached
that goal mark, and then I moved it to one
hundred k, and I reached that. Then I doubled it,
and I reached that, and every single time that I
reached that money goal, I felt the same. On the inside,
I still held onto the pain, to the guilt, to
the shame, to the trauma that I was carrying all
these years, these feelings that I was trying to outrun,
that I was trying to control through my ability to achieve.
(03:01):
Time and time again, I have seen firsthand that no
amount of achievement, even financially, can make you feel like
you are enough. No amount of achievement will give you
the enjoyment in the present moment. No amount of achievement
will allow you to enjoy your life. Sure, financial stability
can and will allow more freedom, But until you learn
(03:24):
to be content where you are now, it doesn't matter
how much money you make, you still feel empty. And
I speak from experience both having and lacking financial security.
Nothing I did was working until I fully stopped. I
sat in the pain, I saw it help and I
worked on myself. I focused on healing. I focused on
how I was living in the present moment, not on
(03:47):
what I was trying to achieve. I read books, I
found a therapist, I found free support groups, and I
put in the work. And everything I share with you, guys,
is simple. Everything I share is something that I have
worked through for a long time. But just because it's
simple doesn't mean it's easy. It is work. It can
feel hard. There is no easy button and there is
(04:09):
no finish line, but there is piece to be found
when you start putting in the work. And so I
share this with you because when we accept the fact
that the only thing guaranteed is the hearing now in
your inevitable passing, you can start your healing now. You
can take this phrase one of two ways you can
either take it and say, well, I better enjoy the
present moment, I better hug my loved ones, tight be
(04:31):
in the experience of my growth, of my goals, of
my relationship, of my life. Or you can be one
of those people that say, scrutle, I'm gonna live it up.
I'm gonna blow all money, I'm gonna do all those
things that I've been wanting to do because who cares.
I could die tomorrow. Ask yourself, which one is really
going to make you feel fulfilled? Which one is the
(04:51):
way I actually want to spend my time. See, while
death is inevitable, we have no clue when or how
it'll come. All we can do is live each day
like it is our last. What type of mark do
you want to leave on this world, on your loved ones,
on mother nature? What is really going to make you
feel good? You see? The latter is something very similar
(05:12):
to trying to chase goals, blowing money, spending money, going crazy.
If you're just doing it to feel something, you're not
going to feel what you want and it's not going
to last when you wake up the next morning after
a spending spree or whatever your idea of buckwallet is
you're not going to feel good you're running, So obviously
I'm not advocating for the latter. I'm advocating for learning
(05:33):
how to love and be in the present moment as
it stands now. Learning how to embrace the process and
the progress of your goals. Learning how to set goals
that make you feel good and make you feel happy
and healthy. I want to pause here because I talk
about goal setting a lot on my podcast, and obviously
that is something that is near and dear to my heart.
But when I say goals, I don't always mean a
(05:55):
money mark. I don't always mean a title. I don't
always mean a form of recognition, a gold medal. Those
gold medal goals in your life could be happiness. They
could be taking more time for yourself, taking better care
of yourself. It could be not feeling anxiety when you
think about your future. Your goal does not have to
be something outside of yourself that you are striving for.
(06:15):
I have multiple goals, and very few of them are
external achievement. And when I do have my external achievement
goals and I set them and I acknowledge them, they
are simply markers for me to know how to spend
my day. But I am fully embraced myself in the
process of achievement because I am not guaranteed that destination.
I am only guaranteed the journey. So I fully put
(06:38):
myself and immerse myself into the daily activities that I
have to do to maybe one day achieve my goals,
and I release what that outcome will look like. I've
heard time and time again in the spiritual community, and
I do practice a form of spirituality, but not the
manifestation kind. That's not in alignment with myself. But you
do hear that a lot in the world of releasing
(06:58):
the outcome and it'll come to you, and that's also
not guaranteed. There is still so much power in releasing
the outcome, and I fully advocate to that, but that
outcome is not guaranteed to you. However, when you do
release it, you do have a more peaceful journey towards
where you're trying to go in life. You're able to
see that it is fully outside of your control. You're
(07:19):
able to see that the only thing that you have
is right here and right now. You're able to make
better decisions for yourself. You're able to think more clearly,
you're able to pause and gain more insight, so when
you release the outcome, you're able to move away from
the feelings of doing and move into those feelings of being. Now.
One way I'm doing this is by being fully engaged
(07:41):
in the experience of my goals, and I set goals
based off of the process rather than the destination. So
I was talking to my husband the other day, and
I go through these weird phases of like, oh my god,
what am I nome in my life, as if I'm
not doing something that I fully love and enjoy. But regardless,
I was like, Okay, what job could I have that
is going to provide me stability, income, is respected, whatever, right,
(08:03):
all these external things that I personally don't care about
but the world does. So I was going through that
period and anyway, I was like, well, I could be
an engineer. And I was like, okay, so all I
have to do is go to school learn to be
an engineer. And then I was like, wait, I would
have to be an engineer. Not only do I have
to sit there and learn engineering, which I do not
have to give two craps about. Shout out to the engineers.
(08:23):
So you guys are doing a great job and very important.
That is not in alignment with me. I was like,
oh my goodness, right here, I'm not thinking about the
process or the experience of a goal. I'm thinking only
about the outcome. Having money, stability, recognition, whatever. All of
these things that I would like is not worth the process,
(08:43):
and then the experience is not something that I want.
It sounds miserable for myself. So when I set goals,
I think about the things that I want to learn,
the things that I want to do, the impact I
want to make, the experience I wish to have, the
person it will shape me into. I don't just think
about what I would gain at the end the journey,
because the end is not guaranteed at all. I could
have became that engineer. I could put in all the time,
(09:05):
I could grind it out, and then there's no guarantee
on what the world is going to look like, what
your life that's going to look like at the end
of that journey. So when you focus on okay, I
want to experience what it's like to use my brain
in this engineering manner. I want to experience what it's
like to put forth the effort in this creative way.
At the end of it, if I don't become an engineer,
(09:25):
I know that I enjoyed what I got to do.
I know that I put my heart and soul in
the process, and so I know that it doesn't matter
where I end up because I enjoyed every step of
the way. This is true for everything I'm doing it
here on my podcast. I sometimes find myself getting caught
up in a fact that I don't have thousands of downloads,
and I don't have a huge marketing around it, and
it's a very small podcast and it's just me, and
it's easy to feel like I am failing because I
(09:46):
don't align with the metrics that I can only dream
of having. And what I do have, though, is I
love getting to show up on here, sharing what I
know to be true and living a healthy, happy life
while still working on success and achievement. I don't know
about you, but as long as I get to talk
about that, and as long as I get to share that,
and as long as I get to develop myself in
(10:07):
the process, I will keep doing this until it no
longer serves me or serves others. I set goals now
based on the experience and sometimes you have to set
goals that maybe you don't want to. There are things
in podcasting that I'm not one hundred percent keen on,
but in order to grow, I need to learn it
and I need to do it, and so I find
ways to enjoy that process a bit more. I challenge
myself in new ways. I say, Okay, you know what,
(10:29):
I really hate doing this, but I'm going to focus
on this way of personal growth or development or learning.
And that makes it a little bit more manageable because
I've turned it into something that I do care about.
So we are setting goals for the experience, because that
is what life is about. We only get a small
amount of life experience that we can have on this earth.
We do not get to experience everything. So we have
to choose things that we want to experience. We have
(10:51):
to choose things that bring us joy, and we have
to choose things that we want to spend ten thousand
hours on. And I can guarantee when you do this,
your life will be so much better. I have this
belief that I recently leaned into, and it's knowing that
together we are all interconnected, even every single one of us.
And more specifically, though within our own family, right like
we all share DNA. We have brothers, sisters, parents, We're
(11:14):
all connected to them, whether we're talking to them or
near them, regardless, we're all connected at a scientific and
biological and spiritual level. And thinking of generational traumas and
badass or your beliefs and how they're all passed down
for generation. So one thing that I've been really focused
on is the fact that we're connected to our ancestors.
(11:35):
We have DNA and beliefs from generations and generations and
generations and generations ago, and we are carrying them through
us in this present moment. And when I find myself
getting stressed out about not having enough, not achieving enough,
not being in the present moment, and I'm thinking about
an outcome, I stop and I remind myself that I
am living in a time that my ancestors can't even fathom. Sure,
(11:57):
it has its own problems, but I can still walk
around outside for the simple pleasure of walking. I can
stop and breathe because I just want to stop and
breathe and look around. I can choose what I want
to do with my career in my life because I
actually have a choice. There are so many generations before
me that could not even almost have that same privilege.
(12:20):
When I catch myself feeling overwhelmed, or not enough, or
all these negative feelings, I remind myself that within my
body there are people who did not have the same
pleasures and experiences that I get to have, And that
helps me release so much of the anxiety of that
control over the outcome, and it puts me back in
the present moment. It puts me in a place of gratitude,
(12:41):
and it reminds me that right here and right now
is enough. Challenge yourself to apply this to your work,
to your family, to your experiences, because I guarantee it
can change your life. If you take anything from this podcast,
it's that being present and mindful is the best gift
you could ever give yourself. The only thing guaranteed is
right here, right now. Find ways to live in that
(13:01):
present moment. Take a deep breath. Look around. You have
more enough to be happy and content where you're at. Sure,
other things look better sometimes, and other things look easier,
especially in the world of social media, but the reality
is right here and right now, you have more than
enough to be happy. You can see the abundance you've
been given. You have more than enough to be free.
(13:23):
You have more than enough to feel secure in who
you are now. You know, I don't like to leave
an episode without action steps, so to summarize this episode,
to package it up and gift it to you in
the form of three tools you can start using today
to live happily in the present moment. I will start
with this. Number one is practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is the
practice of bringing your attention to the present moment without judgment.
(13:45):
It involves fully engaging your current experience, whether it's a
simple task, spending time with a loved one, or enduring
nature or enjoying nature. Take moments throughout your data pause
to breathe deeply and observe your surroundings. Notice this sensation
in your bodies, the thoughts passing through your mind, and
the emotions you're experiencing. By being fully present in each moment,
(14:07):
you can cultivate a sense of contentment and appreciate the
richness of your current experience. You don't have to sit
on a pillow to reap the benefits of mindfulness. I
practice it while I'm playing with my kids, or just
walking to my car, or even right here while I
speak the sentence, so we always have the gift of
mindfulness within us. The second thing you're going to do
is you're going to practice gratitude and feel like a
(14:29):
broken record, but gratitude is such a powerful practice that
shifts your focus from what you lack or where you
want to be, to where you are right here, right now.
It can be as simple as the air you breathe,
the food you eat, the relationships you cherish, or the
opportunities you have. When you actively acknowledge and appreciate the
abundance in your life, you develop a deeper sense of fulfillment.
(14:50):
And some days are harder. Some days I find myself
and I'm like, I can't find a single thing I'm
grateful for. And in those moments when I dig deep
and find something, sometimes it's like I'm grateful for the
soul shaker that I have on the table because I
can make my food taste better. It doesn't matter regardless.
Taking that time to practice gratitude is going to pull
you out of even the most upsetting situations and circumstances.
(15:12):
The third thing you're going to do is set meaningful goals.
So it's so important to embrace the present moment, but
setting goals that align with your values and bring you
joy can also contribute to your overall well being. Instead
of fixating solely on an outcome, focus on the experience
and the growth that comes with pursuing your goals. Choose
goals that allow you to learn, develop new skills, or
(15:35):
have meaningful experiences, or building a supportive community. By embracing
the process and finding fulfillment in the journey, you can
maintain a sense of contentment regardless of the outcome. Now
that you've listened to this episode and learned or relearned
the power of living in the present moment and embracing
the process of your goals, I encourage you to practice
(15:55):
it for yourself. Take a moment right now to pause,
take a deep breath, then bring your attention to the
present moment. For me, right now, in this present moment,
I can hear a car outside that is being way
too loud. But I am grateful that I live in
a home in a neighborhood with a great community. So
even though that car is quite annoying for this podcast,
(16:16):
in the greater step of things, there is so much
more to be grateful for. So I encourage you to
practice it for yourself. Take a moment right now to pause,
take a deep breath, and bring your attention to the
moment and embrace your experiences, your relationships, and the growth
that each moment brings. Practice this mindfulness and gratitude every
day and just see how it transformed your perspective and
(16:38):
brings more fulfillment to your life. If you found this
episode and INSIGHT's valuable, I would really appreciate your support
and spreading the message. Take a moment to rate this episode,
share it with your friends and loved ones, and leave
a comment sharing your thoughts and your experiences. Together, we
can inspire others to live more mindfully and embrace the
process of their goals and find greater fulfillment in the
(16:58):
present moment. Thank you so much for being a part
of this community, and let's create a ripple effective positive
change together. I will see you guys on the next episode,
and I wish you did best.
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to the Gold Medal Mindset Podcast. I
am your host, Barna huckaby three time Paralympic gold medalist snowboarder,
here to encourage you to live a gold medal life,
one that is full of confidence, resilient empowerment, so that
you can be successful in your goals without sacrificing your
mental health and the things you care about most in
(00:27):
this world. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to the Gold Metal Mindset
Podcast with me Brenda Huckabye. We are still in season one,
Episode seven, and I am just so happy to be
here with you guys talking about one of my favorite
concepts that I have worked so incredibly hard over the
last five years to fully embrace in my living day
(00:51):
to day and just being in the here and now.
And not long ago, I had posted on my Instagram
a photo with a quote that said, the only thing
you're going guaranteed is here and now in death. And
I know that quote could seem really dark, and I
know that there is tons of fear around death, and
I know that it's something that people struggle to confront
(01:12):
or think about because when we do that, maybe we
see a lot of shame pain, guilt in a lot
of ways that maybe we didn't live the way that
we wanted to in the past, and death is such
an amazing teacher. It can teach us everything we need
to know about living. Some of us have had to
come face to face with this truth, like me through cancer,
But once we jodged death, life can come back in
(01:34):
and suck us into the painful ways of being. So regardless,
I know firsthand of how impactful death is as a teacher,
and I want to give it to you without you
needing to nearly die. So I believe that there is
so much power in confronting the idea of death and
seeing in a way of impermanence that nothing we have,
good and bad in our life is forever, and we
(01:57):
have the power to choose how we see it and
how we live out our life, and how we take
those good and bad moments and turn them into something
that we can love and be proud of. Back in
twenty eighteen, after I won the Paralympic Games, I came
face to face with the fact that no achievement is
going to make me feel good or good enough. And
after winning the games, I felt joy in my achievement,
(02:17):
but shortly after I felt empty, and I learned the
hard way in the moment that no achievement can give
you what you crave on the inside. It may feel
good for a moment, but it cannot heal you. Shortly
after winning the games, I was like, well, I need
a new goal. Maybe that'll help. And before I started
this healing journey, I was like, Okay, well if I
can just make fifty thousand dollars, because at the time
(02:38):
I was not making anywhere close to that. I reached
that goal mark, and then I moved it to one
hundred k, and I reached that. Then I doubled it,
and I reached that, and every single time that I
reached that money goal, I felt the same. On the inside,
I still held onto the pain, to the guilt, to
the shame, to the trauma that I was carrying all
these years, these feelings that I was trying to outrun,
that I was trying to control through my ability to achieve.
(03:01):
Time and time again, I have seen firsthand that no
amount of achievement, even financially, can make you feel like
you are enough. No amount of achievement will give you
the enjoyment in the present moment. No amount of achievement
will allow you to enjoy your life. Sure, financial stability
can and will allow more freedom, But until you learn
(03:24):
to be content where you are now, it doesn't matter
how much money you make, you still feel empty. And
I speak from experience both having and lacking financial security.
Nothing I did was working until I fully stopped. I
sat in the pain, I saw it help and I
worked on myself. I focused on healing. I focused on
how I was living in the present moment, not on
(03:47):
what I was trying to achieve. I read books, I
found a therapist, I found free support groups, and I
put in the work. And everything I share with you, guys,
is simple. Everything I share is something that I have
worked through for a long time. But just because it's
simple doesn't mean it's easy. It is work. It can
feel hard. There is no easy button and there is
(04:09):
no finish line, but there is piece to be found
when you start putting in the work. And so I
share this with you because when we accept the fact
that the only thing guaranteed is the hearing now in
your inevitable passing, you can start your healing now. You
can take this phrase one of two ways you can
either take it and say, well, I better enjoy the
present moment, I better hug my loved ones, tight be
(04:31):
in the experience of my growth, of my goals, of
my relationship, of my life. Or you can be one
of those people that say, scrutle, I'm gonna live it up.
I'm gonna blow all money, I'm gonna do all those
things that I've been wanting to do because who cares.
I could die tomorrow. Ask yourself, which one is really
going to make you feel fulfilled? Which one is the
(04:51):
way I actually want to spend my time. See, while
death is inevitable, we have no clue when or how
it'll come. All we can do is live each day
like it is our last. What type of mark do
you want to leave on this world, on your loved ones,
on mother nature? What is really going to make you
feel good? You see? The latter is something very similar
(05:12):
to trying to chase goals, blowing money, spending money, going crazy.
If you're just doing it to feel something, you're not
going to feel what you want and it's not going
to last when you wake up the next morning after
a spending spree or whatever your idea of buckwallet is
you're not going to feel good you're running, So obviously
I'm not advocating for the latter. I'm advocating for learning
(05:33):
how to love and be in the present moment as
it stands now. Learning how to embrace the process and
the progress of your goals. Learning how to set goals
that make you feel good and make you feel happy
and healthy. I want to pause here because I talk
about goal setting a lot on my podcast, and obviously
that is something that is near and dear to my heart.
But when I say goals, I don't always mean a
(05:55):
money mark. I don't always mean a title. I don't
always mean a form of recognition, a gold medal. Those
gold medal goals in your life could be happiness. They
could be taking more time for yourself, taking better care
of yourself. It could be not feeling anxiety when you
think about your future. Your goal does not have to
be something outside of yourself that you are striving for.
(06:15):
I have multiple goals, and very few of them are
external achievement. And when I do have my external achievement
goals and I set them and I acknowledge them, they
are simply markers for me to know how to spend
my day. But I am fully embraced myself in the
process of achievement because I am not guaranteed that destination.
I am only guaranteed the journey. So I fully put
(06:38):
myself and immerse myself into the daily activities that I
have to do to maybe one day achieve my goals,
and I release what that outcome will look like. I've
heard time and time again in the spiritual community, and
I do practice a form of spirituality, but not the
manifestation kind. That's not in alignment with myself. But you
do hear that a lot in the world of releasing
(06:58):
the outcome and it'll come to you, and that's also
not guaranteed. There is still so much power in releasing
the outcome, and I fully advocate to that, but that
outcome is not guaranteed to you. However, when you do
release it, you do have a more peaceful journey towards
where you're trying to go in life. You're able to
see that it is fully outside of your control. You're
(07:19):
able to see that the only thing that you have
is right here and right now. You're able to make
better decisions for yourself. You're able to think more clearly,
you're able to pause and gain more insight, so when
you release the outcome, you're able to move away from
the feelings of doing and move into those feelings of being. Now.
One way I'm doing this is by being fully engaged
(07:41):
in the experience of my goals, and I set goals
based off of the process rather than the destination. So
I was talking to my husband the other day, and
I go through these weird phases of like, oh my god,
what am I nome in my life, as if I'm
not doing something that I fully love and enjoy. But regardless,
I was like, Okay, what job could I have that
is going to provide me stability, income, is respected, whatever, right,
(08:03):
all these external things that I personally don't care about
but the world does. So I was going through that
period and anyway, I was like, well, I could be
an engineer. And I was like, okay, so all I
have to do is go to school learn to be
an engineer. And then I was like, wait, I would
have to be an engineer. Not only do I have
to sit there and learn engineering, which I do not
have to give two craps about. Shout out to the engineers.
(08:23):
So you guys are doing a great job and very important.
That is not in alignment with me. I was like,
oh my goodness, right here, I'm not thinking about the
process or the experience of a goal. I'm thinking only
about the outcome. Having money, stability, recognition, whatever. All of
these things that I would like is not worth the process,
(08:43):
and then the experience is not something that I want.
It sounds miserable for myself. So when I set goals,
I think about the things that I want to learn,
the things that I want to do, the impact I
want to make, the experience I wish to have, the
person it will shape me into. I don't just think
about what I would gain at the end the journey,
because the end is not guaranteed at all. I could
have became that engineer. I could put in all the time,
(09:05):
I could grind it out, and then there's no guarantee
on what the world is going to look like, what
your life that's going to look like at the end
of that journey. So when you focus on okay, I
want to experience what it's like to use my brain
in this engineering manner. I want to experience what it's
like to put forth the effort in this creative way.
At the end of it, if I don't become an engineer,
(09:25):
I know that I enjoyed what I got to do.
I know that I put my heart and soul in
the process, and so I know that it doesn't matter
where I end up because I enjoyed every step of
the way. This is true for everything I'm doing it
here on my podcast. I sometimes find myself getting caught
up in a fact that I don't have thousands of downloads,
and I don't have a huge marketing around it, and
it's a very small podcast and it's just me, and
it's easy to feel like I am failing because I
(09:46):
don't align with the metrics that I can only dream
of having. And what I do have, though, is I
love getting to show up on here, sharing what I
know to be true and living a healthy, happy life
while still working on success and achievement. I don't know
about you, but as long as I get to talk
about that, and as long as I get to share that,
and as long as I get to develop myself in
(10:07):
the process, I will keep doing this until it no
longer serves me or serves others. I set goals now
based on the experience and sometimes you have to set
goals that maybe you don't want to. There are things
in podcasting that I'm not one hundred percent keen on,
but in order to grow, I need to learn it
and I need to do it, and so I find
ways to enjoy that process a bit more. I challenge
myself in new ways. I say, Okay, you know what,
(10:29):
I really hate doing this, but I'm going to focus
on this way of personal growth or development or learning.
And that makes it a little bit more manageable because
I've turned it into something that I do care about.
So we are setting goals for the experience, because that
is what life is about. We only get a small
amount of life experience that we can have on this earth.
We do not get to experience everything. So we have
to choose things that we want to experience. We have
(10:51):
to choose things that bring us joy, and we have
to choose things that we want to spend ten thousand
hours on. And I can guarantee when you do this,
your life will be so much better. I have this
belief that I recently leaned into, and it's knowing that
together we are all interconnected, even every single one of us.
And more specifically, though within our own family, right like
we all share DNA. We have brothers, sisters, parents, We're
(11:14):
all connected to them, whether we're talking to them or
near them, regardless, we're all connected at a scientific and
biological and spiritual level. And thinking of generational traumas and
badass or your beliefs and how they're all passed down
for generation. So one thing that I've been really focused
on is the fact that we're connected to our ancestors.
(11:35):
We have DNA and beliefs from generations and generations and
generations and generations ago, and we are carrying them through
us in this present moment. And when I find myself
getting stressed out about not having enough, not achieving enough,
not being in the present moment, and I'm thinking about
an outcome, I stop and I remind myself that I
am living in a time that my ancestors can't even fathom. Sure,
(11:57):
it has its own problems, but I can still walk
around outside for the simple pleasure of walking. I can
stop and breathe because I just want to stop and
breathe and look around. I can choose what I want
to do with my career in my life because I
actually have a choice. There are so many generations before
me that could not even almost have that same privilege.
(12:20):
When I catch myself feeling overwhelmed, or not enough, or
all these negative feelings, I remind myself that within my
body there are people who did not have the same
pleasures and experiences that I get to have, And that
helps me release so much of the anxiety of that
control over the outcome, and it puts me back in
the present moment. It puts me in a place of gratitude,
(12:41):
and it reminds me that right here and right now
is enough. Challenge yourself to apply this to your work,
to your family, to your experiences, because I guarantee it
can change your life. If you take anything from this podcast,
it's that being present and mindful is the best gift
you could ever give yourself. The only thing guaranteed is
right here, right now. Find ways to live in that
(13:01):
present moment. Take a deep breath. Look around. You have
more enough to be happy and content where you're at. Sure,
other things look better sometimes, and other things look easier,
especially in the world of social media, but the reality
is right here and right now, you have more than
enough to be happy. You can see the abundance you've
been given. You have more than enough to be free.
(13:23):
You have more than enough to feel secure in who
you are now. You know, I don't like to leave
an episode without action steps, so to summarize this episode,
to package it up and gift it to you in
the form of three tools you can start using today
to live happily in the present moment. I will start
with this. Number one is practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is the
practice of bringing your attention to the present moment without judgment.
(13:45):
It involves fully engaging your current experience, whether it's a
simple task, spending time with a loved one, or enduring
nature or enjoying nature. Take moments throughout your data pause
to breathe deeply and observe your surroundings. Notice this sensation
in your bodies, the thoughts passing through your mind, and
the emotions you're experiencing. By being fully present in each moment,
(14:07):
you can cultivate a sense of contentment and appreciate the
richness of your current experience. You don't have to sit
on a pillow to reap the benefits of mindfulness. I
practice it while I'm playing with my kids, or just
walking to my car, or even right here while I
speak the sentence, so we always have the gift of
mindfulness within us. The second thing you're going to do
is you're going to practice gratitude and feel like a
(14:29):
broken record, but gratitude is such a powerful practice that
shifts your focus from what you lack or where you
want to be, to where you are right here, right now.
It can be as simple as the air you breathe,
the food you eat, the relationships you cherish, or the
opportunities you have. When you actively acknowledge and appreciate the
abundance in your life, you develop a deeper sense of fulfillment.
(14:50):
And some days are harder. Some days I find myself
and I'm like, I can't find a single thing I'm
grateful for. And in those moments when I dig deep
and find something, sometimes it's like I'm grateful for the
soul shaker that I have on the table because I
can make my food taste better. It doesn't matter regardless.
Taking that time to practice gratitude is going to pull
you out of even the most upsetting situations and circumstances.
(15:12):
The third thing you're going to do is set meaningful goals.
So it's so important to embrace the present moment, but
setting goals that align with your values and bring you
joy can also contribute to your overall well being. Instead
of fixating solely on an outcome, focus on the experience
and the growth that comes with pursuing your goals. Choose
goals that allow you to learn, develop new skills, or
(15:35):
have meaningful experiences, or building a supportive community. By embracing
the process and finding fulfillment in the journey, you can
maintain a sense of contentment regardless of the outcome. Now
that you've listened to this episode and learned or relearned
the power of living in the present moment and embracing
the process of your goals, I encourage you to practice
(15:55):
it for yourself. Take a moment right now to pause,
take a deep breath, then bring your attention to the
present moment. For me, right now, in this present moment,
I can hear a car outside that is being way
too loud. But I am grateful that I live in
a home in a neighborhood with a great community. So
even though that car is quite annoying for this podcast,
(16:16):
in the greater step of things, there is so much
more to be grateful for. So I encourage you to
practice it for yourself. Take a moment right now to pause,
take a deep breath, and bring your attention to the
moment and embrace your experiences, your relationships, and the growth
that each moment brings. Practice this mindfulness and gratitude every
day and just see how it transformed your perspective and
(16:38):
brings more fulfillment to your life. If you found this
episode and INSIGHT's valuable, I would really appreciate your support
and spreading the message. Take a moment to rate this episode,
share it with your friends and loved ones, and leave
a comment sharing your thoughts and your experiences. Together, we
can inspire others to live more mindfully and embrace the
process of their goals and find greater fulfillment in the
(16:58):
present moment. Thank you so much for being a part
of this community, and let's create a ripple effective positive
change together. I will see you guys on the next episode,
and I wish you did best.
Host
Brenna Huckaby
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