Prisoners of the Future-Daily Meditation-August 8, 2023
Today’s quotation:
There are those of us who are prisoners of the future. We don’t know what will happen, but we worry so much that the end becomes a prison. The real future is made only of one substance, and that is present. What else can the future be made of? If we know how to take care of the present moment the best we can, that’s all we can do to assure ourselves of a promising future. We build the future by taking care of the present moment.-Thich Nhat, Hanh How to Walk.
Today’s Meditation:
I used to worry a lot about the future because I was scared it would keep on being like the past and present. When things weren’t going well, and I was dealing with depression, for example, I used to fear that the depression would last forever and that my future would always be just as bad as the present. However, I try to stay more focused on the present moment. I prepare for the future and consider it often, but I don’t think about it too much because I’d rather stay involved in what’s happening in the here and now.
Much of the worry that we go through has to do with the future, and the more we immerse ourselves in the idea of what may happen tonight or tomorrow or the next day, the less we’re able to enjoy and make the most of the present. If my mind is in the future, I will miss much of what I’m doing right now. It’s hard to stay focused on a conversation with a friend right now when I’m thinking about something that may or may not happen hours or days from now.
The irony is that when we focus on the future, we often keep ourselves from preparing well for it. If I’m thinking only about next week, then it’s hard for me to make sure that I’ve done all I can to ensure things go well next week. The truth is, though, that the future exists only in our minds–by the time it gets here, it’s called the present, and wise people consistently tell us that we’re going to do ourselves the best by dealing well with the present and not filling our minds with the maybe’s of the days to come.
We can make educated guesses but can’t tell what the future will bring us. Some people are trapped by the future, mainly thinking about the next week or year or their upcoming vacations while neglecting the here and now. Neglecting what we’re doing now can sabotage the chances of creating the bright future we hope to have.
Questions to consider:
Why do so many people spend so much time thinking about what’s coming up instead of what’s happening now?
What kinds of things can you do right now that will make tomorrow brighter?
What does it mean to be a “prisoner” of the future?
For further thought:
The future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present but a place that is created–created first in the mind and will created next in activity. The future is not some place we are going to but one we are creating.-John Schaar