“Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.” – Omar Khayyam

“Life is short, and if we enjoy every moment of every day, then we will be happy no matter what happens or what changes along the way.” – Gretchen Bleiler

The January 2013 issue of National Geographic Traveler highlighted cultural exchange between a high-school librarian Paula Busey who was so impressed with a Tanzanian Maasai warrior and wildlife guide Samwel Melami, that she invited him to meet her students in Colorado and helped him found a Maasai owned and operated ecotourism company in his hometown of Arusha.The kids raised money to bring this Maasai warrior to their community where he taught them about his culture and his people’s wordview.  “Our core value”, he said, “is to work at preserving communities and traditions”. And then he gave a significant observation:

“American kids are obsessed with becoming adults, with finishing university and starting to work.  I understand they have anxieties.  But I tell them the Maasai don’t think about tomorrow.  We just try to make today excellent.  And if today is excellent, tomorrow will come.” 

“Just like Melami’s lesson to this Colorado high school students, we too in Kenya, where I was born and spent most of my youth, we grow up knowing that whatever you do in your life you have to keep it simple. Think of ways to relax, rather than stress. Consider how you can make each day better. Get out of the rat race if it’s weighing you down. Simple is one of the core keys to long life.

Imagine living life more like that–refusing to constantly be thinking about the “tomorrows” in everything we do.  Imagine learning the art of living in the moment. 

I think if you imagined living in the moment, you would start to look at the future from a new perspective and you would start to appreciate what is going on your today and in this present moment. 

Abraham Maslow had once said, “The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness.”

Living in the moment or living in the present basically means living your life or maybe a moment in life you stop worrying about the past or stop waiting for the future. You just enjoy the present moment, the surroundings and with a must live only for today attitude.

To be present at the moment is to be still and be present right now. You can only live in the moment once you are completely detached from the newer and richer persons and possessions in your life, connected only to the present moment and not the past or the future. The purpose of life is to live in the moment, as the past is gone, the future is yet to come, the present is here, live it to taste the true sense of serene. Be consciously aware that each moment is precious, as living in the present moment is like being with yourself at the very moment in time, and being mindful of this. That’s why this curated list of moment quotes and inspirational quotes from a variety of movies will help you to live in the present moment and serve the purpose of life with newer and richer experiences. Hope you enjoy these moment quotes and share them with your friends and family.

Sometime in December 2020 or January 2021, my kids wanted to go to the movie  theatre to Disney Pixar’s Soul. Mind you this was just after the 2nd wave of Covid outbreak, and at the time indoor gatherings were allowed for a limited seating. We quickly booked sits, on that day we bought the biggest drinks and popcorn bags, we just wanted to enjy some freedom and besides, we needed something lighter to give our mind some break from the constant fear of covid. Lighter it was not…. Outstanding it was. 

I ended up liking the film so much, I watched a few more times on YouTube. It was deep and uplifting. The movie taught me so much about living in the moment and I feel there are some lessons for us all to learn from  Soul. The story centers around Joe Gardner, a middle school music teacher who is an aspiring jazz musician. After finally landing the gig of this life, he falls into a manhole. Initially, as he is passing away, he is headed for the Great Beyond. However, he is able to escape and ends up in the Great Before, where unborn souls are prepared for life on Earth. For the majority of the film, he teeters back and forth between Earth and the Great Before. The film centers around Joe’s journey with 22, a cynical soul who has not found her spark for life. As the storyline unfolds, Joe and 22 both undergo deep transformations as they try to discover what their life purpose (“spark”) is all about. 

After Joe has the piano performance of his life, he realizes that it is not all what he thought it would be. How many times have we done this with major events and milestones in our lives? Perhaps it was when we graduated from college. Or landed that first “real job.” Or maybe when we finished running a marathon. Or when we met our “perfect mate.” Or when we got recognized for great work on our job…. Like the smell of a new car, it all eventually wears off. No matter what the achievement or accomplishment, we are the same person once it is completed. We always go back to ourselves. The “culture of achievement” that permeates our modern-day society often makes it difficult for us to see this. Having goals and the motivation to achieve them is a good thing.

However, it is not healthy to have our entire identity wrapped into our accomplishments. At the end of our lives, we will remember good times spent with loved ones, not how many hours we logged at the office.