No one's really good at it. There's nothing wrong with thinking (or being thoughtful), but there's a difference between choosing to think about something versus

No one's really good at it. There's nothing wrong with thinking (or being thoughtful), but there's a difference between choosing to think about something versus reflexively judging, labelling, ruminating etc. Not being the master of your own thoughts, instead just being along for the ride. To me, 'living in the moment' sounds awfully similar to the goal of Vipassana Buddhism: accurately perceiving reality (i.e. enlightenment). In that sense, 'living in the moment' is a passive rather than active act: experiencing your life without reflexively (often unconsciously) judging or labelling your experiences. Neither ruminating over the past nor obsessing over the future. Observing without judgement and thinking only when you choose to. A 'skillful' state of mind. I doubt many, if any, of us are able to perceive things this way, without deliberate cultivation of a non-judgemental mind. I guess that's why the phrase is 'practice meditation'; it is literally 'practising' a specific way of perceiving the world (one that doesn't come naturally to us), just as you have to practice any other skill. If this all sounds a bit strange, maybe even untrue, give this a try: go somewhere peaceful (a park, your backyard etc.) and just sit down somewhere and 'watch the world go by' for 5 minutes. Try to observe impartially, without labelling, judging or letting your thoughts drift to work, your social circle, what you're having for dinner etc. I suspect most of us (myself included) wouldn't make it past 20 seconds before some thought intruded. If you're a real masochist, try actually meditating for 5 minutes. It's torture. If you try the above, I think you'll realise how little control you have over your own mind. I don't know much about stoicism, but maybe the stoics had a similar notion to the Buddhists. The word 'stoic' has modern connotations of outward calm and impassivity, despite the boiling emotion within. That sounds exhausting, maybe even impossible. But perhaps the original idea was similar to Buddhist philosophy: to master your own thoughts, and outward composure (maybe even 'happiness') would simply be a side-effect.