what is being "in the moment"?

[LeTyan]

I heard some people talking about "being in the moment" in some interview videos. But I haven't been able to find its meaning as an idiom. As English native speakers, how would you interpret this phrase?

Thank you!

[LeTyan]

How come my thread(this one) didn't get any reply but all those asked after me got at least one or more?

Is it because I asked too many questions?

[Gillnetter]

How come my thread(this one) didn't get any reply but all those asked after me got at least one or more?

Is it because I asked too many questions?Probably not

Being in the moment means that one is paying strict attention to the events occurring at the present time. There is little, if any, attention paid to what happened in the past of what may happen in the future - the present time is all that matters. If, for example, you are sitting and watching the sun set over a peaceful lake, you would most likely only pay attention to the scene in front of you. You would not be thinking of the past or worrying about what may happen later - you are "in the moment".

[5jj]

How come my thread(this one) didn't get any reply but all those asked after me got at least one or more?

Is it because I asked too many questions?

The people who answer questions here do so as volunteers, in their free time. Most of us choose to answer a question only if we are confident that we can give an accurate answer. Some questions are answered very quickly. Others may wait for many hours before someone feels that they can give a satisfactory answer. It is not a question of 'first come, first served'. You may have to be patient.

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


(1) May I add my two cents to Gillnetter's excellent answer?

(2) "To live/to be in the moment" may mean different things to different people.

(3) Generally, it probably means to live for this moment, today, now.

(4) For example, there's the saying "That was then. This is now." In other words, forget

what I did yesterday. How am I doing today? There is a famous shoe company that

has the slogan: Just do it. That is, don't think so much. (After all, you may be dead

tomorrow.)

(5) I think that "living in the moment" can be a good thing. It reminds us to try being

the best person that we can today. It tells us NOT to be a prisoner of the bad

experiences of the past (don't let those past experiences control your decisions of

today). It tells us NOT to be a prisoner of our fears about the future (don't let those

fears control your decisions of today).

(6) But some people seem to be "in the moment" too much.

(a) They forget that there is a "tomorrow."

(b) So they do stupid things to themselves or bad things to other people.

(c) They forget that what you do today can help decide what happens to you

tomorrow.

[TheParser]

I heard some people talking about "being in the moment" !

CAUTION: NOT A TEACHER


I have just read something that I thought would interest you.

The foreign-born conductor of an American symphony orchestra was listening to a

choir that was rehearsing. The 800 (!) singers were doing a good job, but the

conductor felt that they could do even better. This is what he told them:

We have a phrase in Venezuela: "You killed the tiger and now you're afraid to

take the skin." This is happpening here. You have to take the skin! Be more in the

moment!



Source: Newsweek, February 13, 2012.