Remember when we had no cellphones or internet in our pockets to distract us? Maybe you do, or maybe you grew up with devices. Imagine a time when you actually had to talk to people and have face-to-face conversations. REAL-LIFE connections. How great is that!?

Less about phones, more about living.

Warm Fuzzy Feeling, Anyone Seen it Recently?

Look at your face? Nah, we have smartphones now, smartphones! Now follow me.

If you’re going to be obsessed with your phone then please start using it in a productive, career-building and in the moment kind of way.

For those of you who do not have a phone (I applaud your choice) then remove the ‘using your phone’ circle in the above graph and that warm fuzzy feeling is far easier to obtain. You can do something in the real world that helps your career path.

Now for the majority of us with phones, that warm fuzzy feeling can come when you use your phone to create an opportunity in the real world to to push your career forward. It’s as easy as organising a meetup.

Focusing too much on your career and being on the phone scrolling all day will lead you to an empty feeling. Neglecting relationships, family time and fun.

Add some more living into your life.

“Ughhh, my phone battery is dying and now I have no camera.” — me

“Those colourful trees on the other hand are quite something. Our animal friends think in the moment.” — Quokka

FYI, quokkas are the happiest animals in the world.

Think Colourful Trees

Google says ‘we have 50,000–70,000 thoughts per day’. Now, I’m no psychologist but common sense would tell me that the more you think negatively about your problems the more your life will spiral downward.

It’s easier said than done to say forget about your problems. But you can replace them.

The objective here is to do something so distracting that your thoughts drift. A distraction in the form of face to face conversation, exercise or going outside.

Ultimately the aim is to think in the present moment and acknowledge the beauty around you. This will lead to a much more pleasant life.

To me the outdoors has this way of making you forget about your problems. Like the time I lost a very important memory cards in my room while running out the door to go hiking. The hike started out mentally uncomfortable but eased into a who cares about those cards anyway, this place is beautiful.

Too Much ______ Will Make You Go Crazy

Live somewhere within the intersecting circles and you’re gonna be alright.

City slickers: If you spend your time in a city sucking car fumes while thinking all how will i afford this months rent, then you’re going to have some major mental and physical health problems. Nature misses you, go get some fresh air.

Middle of nowhere: If you live in the Amazon Jungle in a hut with no electricity you’re going to have a wholesome life full of fresh air and wildlife. However, your hygiene, social interactions and career choices will be severely affected.

Maybe you’re a city person, maybe you’re a farmer, if you love it and it makes you happy then stay where you are. For those of us feeling out of place, bored or need a release from the rat race, make a slight change in your lifestyle to explore some of the other circles.

Accept That We Are All Caterpillars

What stage are you at?

If you worked really hard to get where you are now, that journey should have fulfilled you and people will notice that you have become a butterfly. But if you faked it then you’re still a caterpillar.

I look up to people that I see as butterflies and go “wow, look how beautiful their life is, that’s my goal”. When in their mind, some of them are thinking “ugh, my life, if only I was a butterfly!”.

What you see on the outside isn’t always the same on the inside. The main point of this is that when you fully accept your current situation, only then can grow in a natural positive direction.

Not faking, all fulfilling.

No matter how beautiful someone's life looks from the outside, remember that (a) they currently think they are a caterpillar. Or (b), were once a caterpillar.

Accept what stage you’re currently at and work on yourself.

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Thank you for taking the time to read. I hope this article inspired you.

I originally posted this on Medium as part of my Kickstarter campaign to publish a creative book on mental health. https://medium.com/@daxon/living-in-the-moment-is-so-1997-da80b243be8e

Allan