I love those pieces where they start – “There are two types of people…” – at this rate there are more than two because so many have been written on different topics. Perhaps we have a way of classifying people in our heads and that is where this comes from?
So here are mine – Those that live in the Moment and those that live Outside of it.
Living In the Moment
These are people that exist in that moment, there is nothing else around them. If something is going wrong, they want everything to stop and to figure it out before moving forward. Take the kid playing soccer who just flubbed an open net because she was pushed down and no penalty was called. She is exasperated at the referee not calling the penalty and she wants to understand why, why was it not called, why does she not get a penalty shot, etc, etc. She doesn’t care about the rest of the game just that one single moment.
Living Out of the Moment
Continuing on our example where the girl was pushed down, no penalty awarded, she gets back up and puts herself back into the game – she goes out and gives it her all for another 45 minutes never stopping, never yielding. But after that game, she will let loose on it all – “How come here this didn’t get called and then here there was no call, but over here I got kicked, etc, etc”. When living out of the moment, the person is able to put aside their feelings and issues and focus on what must be done now, knowing there will be time later to discuss.
We are not all one or the other, I’d like to think we operate differently under certain scenarios. As a Player, I might be more In the Moment but as a Coach, more Out of the Moment. In a game where a lot is on the line, perhaps I am more In the Moment but when playing bowling, more Out of the Moment which of course might be more of an indication of my level of commitment vs competitive spirit.
Whichever it is, live them both.