To enjoy your life, you must realize the world has not been doing it to you! You have been doing it to yourself!
I am a not so good night driver. The lack of light and the on-again off-again glare of headlights coming at me are unsettling. As a result, I find myself trying to look too far down the road, often losing my focus on what is immediately in front of me. It struck me recently the same event happens in life. We are busy rolling down the road when we begin to struggle to see the answers too far in the future. In the process we lose our focus on the road immediately ahead. And when we lose sight of the present, because we are straining to see too far into the future, the cost is more than lost peace of mind. We may actually lose our way, missing vital sign posts right in front of us. While it is important to have a picture of our destination, once we have confirmed were we are headed, we must focus on the road immediately ahead. This is where the action is! When you find yourself futurizing to the extent you are missing present moment opportunities or signals, stop. Look at the road immediately in front of you. What is happening requiring your attention? It is the telephone call you need to return? Perhaps a proposal waiting to be written. Maybe it is appreciating someone you have taken for granted recently. It is not the magnitude of the action immediately ahead determining its value. Rather it is checking to ensure the action is leading you closer to your ultimate destination. Just as we cannot jump ahead on the road to a physical location, neither can we jump ahead of the present to achieve our goals. As I often remind my writing friends, envision the future but act in the present. It is really the only way to get where you want to go. Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future; concentrate the mind on the present moment.
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AuthorMusings from Gammon Irons. To desire and strive to be of some service to the world, to aim at doing something which shall really increase the happiness and welfare and virtue of mankind - this is a choice which is possible for us all; and surely a good haven to sail. Archives
February 2020
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