Don’t be one of those people that live in the future and fail to realize the opportunities available right now.
Are you the type of person who is always looking towards the future because you believe that you can’t take much more of the present? The kind of person who always thinks that tomorrow will bring a relief from our problems and obstacles, so we just need to wait and they will all magically go away? Many people tend to live in the future (that is, if they aren’t living in the past!) and fail to realize the opportunities available to them in the present. They think that tomorrow will bring a wave of happiness – and that we can just hide from the problems in our lives today to make it until then.
Far too many of us don’t like to deal with reality. It is always better to reflect back on the better times in our lives, or look ahead to the future when we are sure things are going to be better for us. We are so busy looking ahead or backwards that we don’t realize that right now is one of the best times of our lives. We have the opportunity to make a positive change in our life if only we would deal with the present and not worry about what might happen tomorrow.
Most of us having no problem dreaming about what the future will bring – that exciting new job, a lump sum of money that will come out of nowhere or that big project we’ve been waiting for at work. We like to think that those are going to be better times and that we should spend all our energy dreaming about what might be, instead of using it to focus in on what really is in front of us now. I certainly don’t mean you shouldn’t dream – but you have to realize when dreams and anticipations are being counterproductive to your life. You’ve heard the old expression, “You are going to sleep your life away” – it’s the same, with a twist here. You are going to dream your life away and miss your grand boat of opportunity which is docked right here, today!
Of course, it is easier to dream than to do the work required of us today. Many of us love to procrastinate and put tasks off, which does nothing but make the situation worse. We let work and personal issues pile up until they explode. If we just took the time to do the “work” to resolve these issues today, then we really would have a better tomorrow facing us.
Sometimes we look to the future because we have problems in our lives we’d rather not deal with. It could be a health issue, a financial issue or even a family issue. Yet, ignoring these problems is not going to make them go away. Sometimes the best thing you could do, no matter how tough it may seem, is to face them head on and address them. Not only will doing so help those problems turn into solutions – but it will also help you grow as a person. You are taking action in your life and those actions will help grow you as a leader, a parent and a human being.
Even when we do anticipate good events in the future, we often overestimate how happy they will make us. We think that once we get that big raise all of our financial problems will just magically fall away – we don’t realize that by not addressing the financial problem today, when we get that raise we will be in even worse shape than before and will still be struggling to make ends meet. We think that “more” is the solution to anything – more time, more money, and more widgets. Instead of focusing on “more” why not focus on how you can take what you have and make more effective use out of it?
Don’t live your life always waiting for tomorrow – because in reality, tomorrow never comes. Live your life for today by taking actions in your life to solve the problems and challenges that face you. Embrace the opportunities that usually come from the problem solving and in the end you will find that your life has more meaning, more purpose and more happiness. All it took was living life in the present – and letting the future be.
