What if your life feels like a NEVER ENDING TO DO LIST?
Patricia and Robert van Kooten 
Let's start by acknowledging that most of us are always busy with the next thing on our to-do list. No matter what...
Just one more message... just need to do this one last thing... and you want to finish everything faster because you also believe that if you try hard enough now, you can beat TIME.
...TIME...
Have you ever completely forgotten what you wanted to say in the middle of a story? And that you had to try really hard to remember what it was that you found important to share with the other person at that very MOMENT? These are subtle signals that you have lost your connection to the NOW and to your HEART.
We shake our heads, laugh it off, and just continue with what we're always doing, without giving it any further attention.
And we just keep going, don't we? We falsely believe that diligently working through this list is the path to peace, thinking that REST awaits at the end. The more we do, the more there is to do. The small side effects of being out of balance with the NOW, your heart, and what truly makes you happy slowly fade from view.
What is really going on here? And what can we do about it?
The Emotional Pit No One Talks About
You let yourself be guided by a long list of things you "still need to do." We're becoming increasingly accustomed to solving the list, and we link our pleasure and peace to its completion. Stress and following "our list" then become our guide through life. As a result, we lose the ability to discern what is truly needed in this moment, which causes our clarity and conscious presence in the NOW to drift further and further away.
And with that, our positive emotions as well. By no longer being connected to your NOW moment, patterns emerge that have room to drive us even further away from our heart. We feel it, we are aware of it, and we create more and more judgment towards OURSELVES and our ENVIRONMENT. We react with less joy, as I discussed in blog 1 (place name and link).
You start to feel more and more alone and feel that no one sees how difficult things actually are for you.
Nobody understands you. Sadness, disappointment, and anger get more and more space to attach a charge to everything. An emotional charge.
And the harder you try to push this away... the more you get stuck in these emotional saboteurs. And when the saboteurs are in charge, you miss the NOW moment...
Doing vs. Being: The WAY OUT
I know what you're thinking.
"All those emotions are nice, but I don't have time to deal with them." "I'm happy if I can just sit for a bit."
And yet... by not avoiding them and by acknowledging them, you can take the first step toward regaining control of your own life, your own NOW moment, your authentic self.
What the Power of the NOW Has to Do with All This
Being in the NOW is not about escaping your responsibilities. It's about giving your mind enough space to deal with them properly.
Think of it like clearing your desk before you start work. If your brain is full of unprocessed thoughts, emotions, and background stress, it's like trying to work while someone is constantly throwing papers on your desk.
I started reconnecting with myself by doing this in the restroom at work. It was a busy and distracting environment, and I literally needed to catch my breath. This was my beginning, and it helped me in that phase of my life to see more clearly what was actually happening around me. Slowly, this practice activated the steps toward reclaiming my own agency in life. It was incredibly valuable, even though at that moment, I didn't fully grasp its true worth as I do today.
Try This: The 'Reset Before You React' Technique
The next time you feel that familiar tension rising—before you immediately react when stress comes up—try this 2-minute reset.
🔁 2-Minute Reset Exercise
- Take a moment for yourself.
- Place your hands on your heart.
- Take a few deep, conscious breaths into that area.
- Feel the sensation. The contact. The weight.
- Repeat this 3 times.
This simple act reactivates the opening to the NOW. By doing this multiple times a day—even if it's just upon waking, before sleeping, or at any other moment you think of it—you begin to initiate the shift.
This little pause can prevent you from reacting automatically. And that, exactly that, is power.
This Is Exactly Where Our Course and Program Can Help You
If you're reading this and thinking, "Yeah, but I can never stick with it,"—you're not alone.
That's why the 'Living in the NOW' meditation course was built for real life. Not for ideal conditions. Not for quiet mornings with birdsong.
Real life, with mess and kids and noisy neighbors and a to-do list that keeps growing like an un-erasable weed.
The course includes:
- Simple, guided meditations that you can fit into your day
- A printable journal to help you get clear, stay grounded, and feel less scattered
- Gentle structure and encouragement (without pressure or guilt)
It's not about turning you into a Zen master. It's about helping you come back to yourself—and finally feel a little more steady.
You can learn more about the course here →
Next Up: How 10 Minutes of Quiet Can Change Your Entire Day
Next time, we're going to talk about time. More specifically:
- Why 10 minutes of meditation can feel more refreshing than an hour-long nap.
- How short, consistent moments of silence build resilience.
- What to do when your brain treats silence as a threat.
Click here to read the next post: How 10 Minutes of Quiet Can Change Your Entire Day
Categories: : stress
