Living in the Now has come to network TV! Good Morning America reported that a new study on happiness has been done at Harvard. It showed how our wandering minds make us unhappy. An app was created for the iPhone that interrupted people at intervals during the day and asked them three questions:

* How are you feeling right now?
* What are you doing right now?
* Are you thinking about something other than what you’re doing?

Forty-six per cent said they were distracted, and their minds were wandering.

What are Wandering Minds Like?

People are less happy when their minds are wandering, the study went on to reveal. People are worrying about the future or revisiting something unpleasant from the past. People are simply happier when they focus on the moment. The Harvard study said it  would next need to do another study about what to do instead of wander with your mind.

What to Do About the Problem?

This is the question that enlightened beings have been attempting to communicate to one and all for millennia. Ram Dass wrote Be Here Now, and every guru and teacher from Chopra to Tolle to Buddha to Christ has told humanity to stick around in the present moment.

A Technique That Might Help

There’s a technique called The Sedona Method. It is the product of a realized man named Lester Levenson, and several prominent teachers have been teaching it for years. It offers three questions to ask your mind as you move throughout your days and nights:

* Could I release this?
* Would I release this?
* When?

Of course you can release your thoughts if you want to – and that’s the reason for the second question, which is your willingness to just let go. The last question asks your mind when you’d do it  – and  guess what the answer almost always is: “Now.”
When would you release your thought – not tomorrow or yesterday, but Now.

Tomorrow and Yesterday are Just Thoughts

So you come into the Now and release whatever is going on in your head. You notice that you have to release your thoughts over and over so you can get here to the Now. The wandering mind is truly wayward, and it’s a commitment to your own happiness to keep on bringing your thoughts home over and over. But it’s a worthwhile commitment, as your thoughts are proverbial monkeys on tree branches or bulls in the china shop, and through the power of your own mental strength, you can find the happiness that shines at the core of everything.