The John Tesh Blog

It sounds simple, but it’s something that I struggle with every day. Josh Baran, author of 365 Nirvana Here and Now, has written a book that examines what “living in the present” means, how to achieve it, and why it’s a wonderful thing to practice.

1. Focus on today.

2. Do not stress about what happened yesterday.

3. Don't lose sleep about what needs to be done tomorrow. 

Baran suggests that in order to find this peace of mind we first need to learn the art of paying attention. Noticing life as you live it today – whether it’s your dog playing with a tennis ball, the crisp colors of the leaves on your way to work or in my case my new granddaughter and her 2-minute-long process of eating one cheerio at a time: Reach. Take the cheerio between the thumb and forefinger. Move the cheerio slowly toward the mouth. Chew the Cheerio methodically with 4 teeth. And repeat as needed. Now, that's focus.

On setting goals: In his book, Baran goes on to say that we all need to set goals, but we shouldn’t be obsessed with them to the point where we miss out on the joy of today. Baran insists: "If you keep saying, I’ll be happy when I lose those 10 pounds, or I’ll be happier after we buy that new house, or when I get a raise I’ll really be happy” you risk the chance of getting lost in the quest, and you’ll miss out on the great things that are happening in the mean time. Wasn't it John Lennon who said: "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans?"

Baran, who was once a Zen Buddhist priest, spent a lifetime collecting inspirational and enlightening quotes and stories, and they appear in his book. Here’s one, from writer Will Durant: “Forget mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you’re going to do now and do it.” Amen.

If you want to go further, the name of the book is 365 Nirvana Here and Now.