I used to always dream about a better future.
Like, when I was a little kid, I couldn’t wait until I was old enough to get my driver’s licence. I thought then my life will be a dream. It was going to be so much better because then I could be independent, and drive myself to the mall anytime I wanted!
Then I grew up some, and got big enough to be able to take the driver’s test. It wasn’t so dreamy anymore. Actually, I got freaked out by all of the responsibilities that came with driving. Like needing to merge onto the freeway – the freeway! – and not hit anybody! Plus, I found out that in reality, I couldn’t just drive myself to the mall anytime I wanted. No, instead I had to do driving chores anytime my parents requested.
So then I couldn’t wait until I was big enough to live on my own. Life would be so much better once I was a grown up. It was a great dream until the time arrived, and I found out that living on my own also came with my own bills!
There are probably a thousand more examples of this wishing for a supposedly better future time. And they all seem to have the same revelation. What always ends up happening, is the future only presents a whole new set of issues to deal with. Meanwhile, life itself is rushing by, not being appreciated now.
It makes me think about the struggles of 2020, and how I hear a lot of people profess that they can’t wait for this year to be over. But now that we are all rushing into the final month of the year, I just have this sneaky suspicion that 2021 is not going to miraculously solve all of the issues that came with 2020, simply because the year moved up a number in the calendar.
I really feel that we can’t put all of our hopes on feeling better about life merely from the passage of time. We have to feel better about life purely because that is what we choose for the present.
The way to ensure that it gets better in the future is to build it from a foundation of appreciation for what is going on right now. It doesn’t just become better simply with the passage of time. It becomes better by creating it now.
Like a Fox! 