Part I
When we worry about the future we ruin the present moment. The fears of what tomorrow might bring are experienced in the here and now, so how can we be happy at a given moment if we are worrying about the future at that same moment? That’s not a trick question 
The answer is, that are happiness will be affected if we are simultaneously living in fear of the future.
If you think about it, it’s actually rather foolish to ruin the moment by worrying about what may never come to be, but we’ve all done it. Some of what we fear may come to fruition but worrying about it in the present moment doesn’t help. Most of what we worry about probably will never happen but that’s beside the point. The point is that all we have is this moment, nothing more and nothing less, just right now. The past is but a memory and the future is not here and may or may not come for us so let us be with the only time that we truly have which is this moment. When we truly live in the moment there can be no fear of tomorrow or regrets about the past because we are not thinking of them. Sure, you can learn from your past and plan for your future but that’s not what I am talking about here. And until you get good at living in the moment, do what you can to stay out of the past and future all together as you’ll most likely skew the boundaries between planning for your future and learning from your past with worry and regret. When we are worrying about tomorrow we are also missing out on whatever it is that we are experiencing at that moment. We are not fully appreciating life and I find that sad.
One way to eliminate your fears of the future is to have faith in a Higher Power, so I will suggest reading my posts titled Letting Go, Get Faith and Let’s Talk About God. Such faith is quite helpful to us as we try to stay in this moment. Trusting in the way things are and the way things will be can make living in the moment much easier for us. So, go get some faith
This business of living in the moment need not be complicated. On the contrary, it is extremely simple. We tend to complicate life by thinking too much. Living a life based on the principles set forth on this site requires work and effort on out part. What I’m suggesting here requires no effort. All you need to do is just be with this moment. It takes effort to keep our brain spinning about what the future holds for us and the resulting fears drain our present energy. All you need to do is be with this moment. Stop… look where you are and be aware of what you are doing at this moment. That’s it.
If you do this, you will eliminate your fears of the future. Don’t expect perfection here. Your mind will wander into the future again. When you notice that you’ve left this moment, don’t beat yourself up about it just come back to it. You’ll get better with practice. The more you are able to be with this moment, the less you will worry about the future and the more you will appreciate the here and now. What you’re doing here is actually a form of meditation which I’m sure I’ll discuss in posts to come. May you be happy and at peace.
This concludes part one. Part two of this post is titled “Don’t Think So Much“.
Anonymous
on Mar 25th, 2009
@ 4:19 AM:
I find that living in the moment is one of the hardest mindsets to accomplish. No matter how hard I try to stay focused my mind wanders about what happened yesterday and what will happen tomorrow. Intellectually I am aware that we only really have the moment but that does not stop me from worrying about the future. Living in the moment is not as simple as it sounds, at least not for me.
Alan A
on Mar 25th, 2009
@ 6:08 AM:
Anonymous,
One paragraph in this post discusses the importance that faith can play in our ability to live in the moment. Perhaps you need more faith in a Higher Power that you can trust.
Also, the more we practice most things, the better we get. So, practice, practice, practice. Living in the moment does not require thought, on the contrary, you just need to be. As I mentioned in the post, when your mind wanders, bring it back to the moment. I will be writing posts about certain types of meditation that help to focus the mind. This will take time and effort as you’ll need to practice meditation. Here comes the work again but the results of that work should make your efforts worth while.