There's a difference between looking forward to a future event and wishing away your life between now and that future time. One gives you a positive focus for moving forward and the other completely robs you of the ability to enjoy the journey. If life were all about the destination, none of us would experience more than fleeting moments of happiness. By learning to enjoy the process of day to day living, working towards your goals, appreciating the small pleasures and even the terrible lessons we experience along the way, we can develop an awareness of a much more sustainable type of happiness.
Similary, worrying about potential future events also makes it impossible to be happy in the present moment. And the great shame about this is that your worry won't prevent that awful thing happening. And as it hasn't yet happened you owe it to yourself to relax and make the most of what is going on right now. When you catch yourself feeling anxious about the future, stop and ask yourself these questions:
Is this future event that I'm worried about a certainty or a possibility?
If it's a certainty, is there anything I can do right now to help alleviate the situation?
Does stressing myself out about it now help in any way?
It is important to make plans for the future, but to live in the present. In order to reach your destination, you need to take action in the present. Living too much in the future might mean you have tonnes of plans, but nothing to show for them, and goals that are never achieved.
Here are some tips on how to become more present-moment oriented:
* Every day, take some time out: close your eyes, breath deeply and feel every muscle in your body relax by mentally working your way from your face all the way down your body
* Ask yourself: what do I need to do now?
* Check in with yourself regularly throughout the day and become aware of how you're feeling. What can you do to improve that if you need to?
