This moment is all that stands between you and everything else. Everything you have ever experienced has happened through this moment. This moment contains everything; your past, present and the future. How you handle this moment is all that matters.
One of the most difficult things to understand and deal with is the present moment. It is very easy to understand the past; it is a collection and memory of everything you have ever done. It is also very easy to understand the future; it is the collection of everything you want to do. But present is a mystery.
Let us for a moment try and understand what is present and understand its relationship to our lives. Firstly present is not a single moment between the past and the future; rather it is a continuous stream of reality happening at an one moment in time. In fact present is the only true experiencing dimension of life. Past and future are just a part of our imaginary mind.
Of all the different experiences we have had in our lives, we recollect a few select experiences that have caused us immense joy or immense sadness and we categorize them into different emotions. This collection of selected experiences which are prejudiced by our mind is what we call our past.
Similarly future is a pure imaginary projection of what we want to accomplish. This again is subjected to the prejudices of the desires of the mind. The only thing that is real and will always remain real is this present moment and how you handle it.
Present is the only functional and experiential dimension of life. Everything we can accomplish and achieve can be done only in this present moment. When we are able to control this moment, we can control our entire lives. Each moment lived with focused awareness and action stringed together becomes a beautiful and successful life.
Learning to be in the present moment is probably the most important skill you can develop. The more rooted you are in the present moment, the more easier it becomes to handle all the challenges of life. Present is the door, learning to enter it and being in it is all that matters.