Do you tend to always worry, rather than embracing the moment? If so, it means you are thinking about the future, rather than sitting in awe of how lucky you are to be alive right now.

No matter how lovely the present circumstances might be, you habitually live psychically 30 minutes — or 30 days, or 30 years — into the future

Are we doomed to this torrent of stress which distracts us from enjoying our life? We don't have to be.

An older man came up to me after a speech I'd delivered, grabbed my hand, and said he wished he'd heard me speak decades ago. After I asked why, he said that when he was eating lunch on break or dinner with his family, he was always thinking about what he had to do after the meal, which represented his daily life. "At the age of 97," he said, "I've officially lived my life 30 minutes ahead of whatever I was doing."

• Don't cry before you are hurt. Don't put up your umbrella until it rains. Worry restricts your ability to think and act effectively, and it forces your mindset into fear and anxiety about something that may never occur. Laughter is the opposite. When you laugh, you're living almost completely in the moment, and it's one of the best feelings you can have. So, laugh more often.

• No one can ruin your day without your permission. As much as we cannot control in life - our genes, our past and what has led up to today - there is much control we may take upon ourselves. Today, for example, we can realize that life picks on everyone, which is helpful when our daily life becomes difficult, so we don't need to take it personally. When we do take misfortune personally, we tend to obsess, giving our days a legacy of distress.

It is not how you start in life or how you finish. The true joy of life is in the trip, so enjoy the ride!

Steve Gilliland (www.stevegilliland.com) is a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame, focusing on how to gain success in one's career, relationships and life. His books include Enjoy the Ride: How to Experience the True Joy of Life; Making A Difference, and Hide Your Goat: Strategies To Stay Positive When Negativity Surrounds You. His new one, "Detour, Developing the Mindset to Navigate Life's Turns," will be released in May 2015. Gilliland's comic storytelling can be heard daily on SiriusXM Radio's Laugh USA and Blue Collar Radio.

Photo credit: Space Odissey on Flickr (CC)