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The Future of Now

I’ve been doing a great deal of thinking and planning around my future and the future in general. You know, the usual stuff – finances, career, life, home, health etc. I’ve been doing this so that I can lay the groundwork – the foundation for what I expect to come. I haven’t really done this so much in the past on quite the same scale or even with the same level of reality. I mean when I’ve planned in the past it was typically much more fanciful and dreamy eyed – along the lines of, wouldn’t it be great if…

I’m not entirely clear on why I’ve been doing this now and not before but I do feel I’m far better equipped to realistically assess and extrapolate than ever before. That’s not to say that my plans are entirely devoid of dreams – they’re still in there in all their colourful glory, but now more than ever they’re bound more tightly to realistic expectations and time lines. And again that’s not to say that the realism in my plans is accurate – just MORE accurate than ever before, in fact I would venture to say my plans are still far more fanciful than most of us – that’s just who I am.

Although I feel planning for the future is an important and necessary step for progression and forward movement I think it is detrimental to dwell entirely in the future. After all – and I’m by no means the originator of this idea – the present is where we actually live – the here and now is where we experience our own particular world – this moment is where all the action and excitement is.

I personally have a tendency to dream and often I forget to centre myself in the moment at hand. I find it very easy to get carried off by plans, thoughts and ideas. Others may have the opposite problem, but I think – as in all things – it’s important to maintain a balance, between thinking on the future, the present or the past. How else are we to better understand our place in the cosmos without a full perspective like this?

As I said, lately I’ve been focused on future plans and consequently missing some of those poignant moments in the now of my life – particularly with my son. I’m beginning to think its time to focus on the now – at least it seems like a good opportunity, since I’ve already established a future framework in which to operate.

I think too, I create best when I’m most present in the moment and least distracted by thoughts of the future. Lets see where now takes me.