Our Imminent Lives [1-Minute Wednesday #2]
My 1-Minute Wednesday series pairs a brief piece of music with a piece of thought-provoking text.
OUR IMMINENT LIVES
Society is irreversibly fixated on the future. This goes well beyond having dreams, setting goals, and making plans. We are obsessed with the image of a better tomorrow, a brighter future. It seems difficult for us to relax without believing that our best days are ahead of us. This assumption keeps us motivated, we think.
Yet, for many of us, the present moment is not something we have learned to enjoy. And this compulsive hope for better days keeps us in a constant state of dissatisfaction. Even when life is good, we’re incapable of fully enjoying it because we’re already thinking ahead.
Our minds are time travelers, living ahead of our lives. We’ve restless to escape the present moment. But although it seems hopeful, living for the future is actually hopeless—only the present moment can we contend with, act upon, and feel.
Of course, making plans and goals is unavoidable as a cog in the modern wheel. But we must never forget where we are—here, right now.
“Making plans for the future is only useful to those fully capable living in the present.” – Alan Watts
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