The Paradox Of Living In The Moment - How To Be Happy Today And Prepare For Tomorrow
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Are you feeling stressed and upset? If so, you are worrying about tomorrow. Events that have already occurred may cause you regret, but they only appear to cause worry. If you just lost your job, you are not worrying about losing your job - that already happened. You are worrying about paying your bills and finding a new job. Those are worries about tomorrow.
Worrying is just a natural human emotion, and everyone worries, right? Actually not. Worry is a bad habit that most people acquire, and like all habits, can be broken.
When you worry about what may or may not occur in the future, you miss the joy that is available today - each and every day. So is the answer to focus only on today, and let tomorrow take care of itself? That sounds good - until tomorrow arrives and you are not prepared.
It's a paradox. How does one balance living in the now with preparing responsibly for the future? The key to this dilemma lies in the distinction between "worrying about the future," and "preparing for the future." The two concepts are not at all the same.
There are two aspects to preparing for the future. The one that is more familiar to most people is planning. You know the mortgage is due next week so you save the money - You know you want to fit into your clothes tomorrow, so you forgo that second helping. Planning for the future is fully compatible with living joyfully today.
The other aspect of preparing for the future is accepting that things will probably not turn out the way you plan. Creating this acceptance of life's uncertainties is much more challenging than formulating and following through on plans.
The source of most worry is a lack of acceptance of the uncertainties of the future. When one fully lives a life of acceptance, life's vagaries are not merely tolerated, but are enjoyed because they are life's gifts. If one is religiously inclined, whatever life delivers is a gift from the Creator. If one holds other beliefs, then whatever happens is just what there is to work with - so why not enjoy it.
The recipe for a joyful life is planning and preparing for the future, while simultaneously accepting that you hold virtually no control over future events. By placing no demands on the future, you can enjoy whatever it brings.
I need to be able to do this, every day!
ReplyDeletevery useful advice! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your insight and guidance, it is such useful and inspirational advice!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this reading.
ReplyDeleteBless you.
Thank you for this explanation between worrying, preparing, and accepting. I have spent so much time worrying about the future, I need to remember to fully accept the past, enjoy the present, and embrace what the future holds. Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteIs it just me or is it inevitable wrather or not you plan and or dwell on past or future, it;s only the results that are affected." You either stand for something or fall for anything. Thank you,
ReplyDeleteemergency man
You are failing to see that worry/fear motivates action.. If u lose your job 2day and dont worry about it u fail to recognise the negative affect and thus have no motivation to do the planning u speak of... Worry is necessary.. It just needs to be kept in perspective and used as an instigator not debilitater
ReplyDeletePeople begin to "WORRY", if they are not worried. Once you get used to it and form a habit of worrying, then it's an addiction and you begin to feel uneasy without it. So, kick all worries out of your life and start living for the NOW. As the saying goes, YESTERDAY IS DEAD AND GONE, TOMORROW IS OUT OF SIGHT, TODAY IS IN YOUR HANDS, at your disposal. Go ahead and and make the best use of it. Relish and enjoy it to the full. Every bit of it. Million thanks to this sight. I open it evry day to top-up my inspirational reservoir. May you be blessed for ever for this inspirational outlet
ReplyDeleteLife life moment to moment cause you can never buy one back
ReplyDeleteWhat can I say? I feel good and awaken with the realities of life every time I read your words. Thanks for your insight and guidance.
ReplyDeleteThe Point of Power is Now
ReplyDeleteYaris628............
Acknowledgement to Seth.(Jane Roberts)
Well, yes, "worry/fear motivates action", but so does simple determination and decision making without the negative aspects of worry. Things are going to happen that are out of our control. It's just the way of life. But what we CAN control, although it's often difficult, is how we react to it. Worry is a negative emotion that generates negative energy and negative energy is always destructive. Instead, it's important to replace the negative worries and thoughts with positive ones. As an example, the loss of your job. Devastating! Yes! I know it would be for me as a single mom with an adult disabled son. However, I would try to rearrange my thoughts to see that it is an opportunity to move forward into something better. I would (after crying for a few hours, lol) begin 'scripting' and self-talk. I would drum up positive energy by saying things like, "Hey, this is EXCITING! I wonder what wonderful thing the Universe has in store for me now! I can hardly wait to see what my new job is going to be! How wonderful to have this new start!" I'm not saying this is easy, but IS do-able. It's a law of physics that 'like attracts like'. If you send out negative energy, you're going to get negative back. If you send out positive energy....well, guess what? You'll begin to see that you're getting positives back!
ReplyDeleteGosh this is long. I hope it helps.... :)
Hello quiet listener. I just read your comment today 28th April 2019 and wondered how you are now. Yiur comment chimed with me as i am trying to live postively l7je you ,as a newly single mother of adult children after a 30+ year martiage ended with his cheating . I have a new partner and new experiences now. It has not been easy but i have strenghened myself . Sounds like you ?
DeleteI think worry is a natural human response to a challenging situation -but it is a "lesser" emotional choice made from a fear base. that is why the older wiser more experienced would say, "Give it to God."
ReplyDeleteBut we don't have time to listen to them in our culture. Their wisdom is lost to us - and we work to reinvent their wisdom.....
Worry is like sitting in a rocking chair - rocking for all you're worth - feeling like you're doing something but getting up and finding you've gone no where and now lack the energy to do anything positive. A pause to gather ourselves can be productive but emotionally sitting in that rocking chair daily- for long periods of time- is a dependent choice and can erode into self pity.
Victor Frankl in his book about life in a concentration camp, "Man's Search for Meaning", states the importance of the gift of free will. The only true freedom we have is to choose how to respond to our own life events. This how we participate in the daily continued creation of our lives - choosing who we are and who we are becoming.
Life's real choice is to choose from a fear base or have the audacious bravery to choose from love.
Fear life or Love it.