Why The Present Isn't Enough


The notion of 'living in the present moment' seems to be a very popular one.  I hear it offered as a piece of advice ALL the time; 'try to live more in the NOW', 'savour the present', 'don't think too much about the past or the future, just enjoy this moment'.  And while I can see that there are many good qualities in trying to live this way, with this mentality, I also feel that there is a lot missing from it.  I can definitely agree that it is a good thing to take each moment as it comes and not worry so much about what's to come or what has already happened.  Of course it's wonderful to feel that sense of letting go, to just concentrate on what is happening right now, today, and enjoy it.  But can we really live like that all the time?

In reality, there are so many situations where simply living in the present is NOT the best solution. Perhaps we have to do a job that we hate.  Maybe we are going through a particularly stressful period; for example, we might have fought with a friend, we could be having a financial crisis, moving house (always an extremely stressful experience), waiting for hours in an airport for a delayed flight or dealing with any number of other difficult issues.  It's pretty much impossible to 'enjoy the moment' in any of these situations, and if we tried, we would only be miserable!  And what about when we are at the beginning of a new chapter in our lives?  It could be that we have just moved somewhere new and don't have any friends there yet, or that we are starting a new project or learning something new and don't yet have the hang of it.  What is it that keeps us motivated to keep going at times like these?

In my opinion, the promise of a bright future is absolutely fundamental.  We can go through hard times because we know that something good can come out of it.  To have hopes and dreams is so important and, even more than this, having something to look forward to is, I think, one of the best ways to lift you up when you feel low.  I spend so much time making plans and I love it!  I love putting future ideas into action, writing things into my calendar, organising exciting projects that will take place a few months from now.  As I look out of the window today and see the grey clouds and the rain, and having only the prospect of going to the gym and doing some difficult practice in my schedule, I am SO happy to know that I have many wonderful things happening in my life in the next few weeks and months.  For me, today is not enough.  I need the promise of the future.  Ironically, it is when I am busy making my future plans, that I am REALLY enjoying the present moment!

Similarly, everybody says it doesn't do well to dwell too much on the past, and I get that - you can't change it, what's done is done.  But, in some ways, the past can also really help us, and sometimes mulling it over is not a bad thing.  Remembering happy times or successful times, thinking back on beautiful memories, laughing again at something funny that happened a year ago - these are all fantastic and essential for the soul and why not think about them often!  Learning from our past mistakes is also only beneficial if we want to progress in our lives.  Remembering how things went wrong last time, so that we may do them right the next, is such a useful and simple trick! 

I'm not saying that we shouldn't make the most of each day, or that we should forget about trying to enjoy our current situations.  I just mean that there is much more to it than that.  We need things to look forward to just as much as we need our memories and histories.  In fact, I think that it is only with these elements, that we can actually enjoy living in this moment, right now. 

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