“We are never present with, but always beyond ourselves: fear, desire, hope, still push us on towards the future, depriving us, in the meantime, of the sense and consideration of that which is to amuse us with the thought of what shall be, even when we shall be no more.” Montaigne, That Our Affections Carry Themselves Beyond Us.
In today’s society there are so many activities that compete for our attention and demand our time. The problem is that we cannot do everything we would like to; it is required that we pick and choose what is most important to us. On my mission I saw so many fathers who put their careers first and in turn ended up missing out on some of life’s greatest moments with their families. Even though they never said it, their actions communicated to the family what they valued most.The humanistic mindset that someone develops by believing that they can achieve something will ultimately lead them to think about what could be. These ideas that one can do something more come from what they hear, read, or see. As a result their mindset is turned from current circumstance to future triumphs. This thought process helps to direct the course of one’s life.
On the other side if we do not focus on the issues at hand we will never be able to enjoy the now. It’s great and necessary to think about what could be and what lies ahead in life but at the same time this makes us blind to what is right in front of us.
If you only focus on today you will never be ready for tomorrow. But I don’t think we need to pick if we are going to focus on the future or focus on the now. To balance our lives we need to learn to invest our time today in what we hope for tomorrow. Spending time with a family can both keep us grounded in the moment and aid us in preparing for an eternal future. And if we learn to effectively communicate what is important to us we will be able to surround ourselves with what matters to us most.
This makes me think of many of the celebrated individuals that we have been learning about, especially many of the artists and inventors. They seemed to focus well on their work and accomplish a lot but at the same time they tended to suffer in relationships and health. I agree with you that we have to enjoy now but have plans for the future.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me a bit of Dr. Faustus. He made that deal with Devil for 24 years, probably thinking that he had all the time in the World to figure life out. He was all about the "now" and didn't plan for what would happen if that time expired and he did not repent. So although focusing on living life one day at a time is good, I agree that there has to be a larger picture and plan for moving forward into the future.
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