The Future Is Pointless

I often catch myself looking through old photos, videos, and text messages. I like to reminisce, and I’m much more sentimental than people make me out to be. In high school, I studied media communications and made some news stories and some films. I learned to capture the moment for others to see, as well as for myself to see in the future. I remember one evening, I was on the phone with one of my friends, and he was going on a trip very soon. I kept reminding him to take a ton of photos to remember his experience. His response, however, shocked me. He explained how he didn’t like to take a lot of photos or videos in the moment. He said something that simply blew my mind.

“I don’t need to see the world through a screen, because if I live my life well enough in the moment, I probably won’t forget it.”

Boom. Mind blown. It’s a simple concept obviously, but one that I had definitely overlooked. If you’re not completely present and living the “now” to its fullest, the future is entirely pointless! This doesn’t just apply to phones, though. I believe people spend so much time worrying about or wishing for things in the future. Kids go through high school worrying about getting to college and wishing they were already there, but then they get to college and start worrying about a career and wishing they had steady job. Adults have steady jobs and a family, and long for retirement and more vacations, but once they retire, they long for more time and wish to relive parts of their lives more fully. Here’s how a lot of people live their lives: 1) You’re put on this earth 2) you focus on what’s next in your life 3) you get there 4) you start focusing on the next goal 5) you repeat steps 2-4 for your lifetime 6) you die.

How fulfilling, right?

So here’s the thing. Goals are great. Goals make life worth living. But you know what isn’t great? Focusing so much on what could be great, when you have so many things in front of you that are already great. Give yourself a high five for the things you’re achieving in high school. Give yourself a pat on the back when you graduate. Enjoy where you are, right now!

The movie "About Time" is one of my favorites because of the ending (so, spoiler alert if you’ve never watched it). The gist of it is, the main character has the ability to go back in time and relive moments in his life. He goes through a large chunk of his life redoing situations so the outcome is better than it was the first time he lived it. By the end of the movie, he decides to stop travelling back in time because he lives every day with the mentality that he can only live each day once. This makes him love more, work harder, and appreciate everything. I think that's how everyone should be living their lives, because we really do only get to live each day and each moment one time. What a waste it is to live life discontent because you aren't where you wish you were! Making goals and looking to have a brighter future is pointless if you aren't going to enjoy the moment that you're in right now. 

I try and have this mentality when I go about my days, but it's okay to want to change where you are right now. That's how we progress! But there is also so much to be grateful for right this second. Enjoy the weather. Enjoy the education you're receiving. Enjoy the friends you have now. Enjoy the time you have to yourself. Enjoy the good music on the radio. Stop living in the future! There's no need to take a thousand videos at the concert you're at just so you can relive the night, and there's no need to wish you were at a different point in your life. Where you are right now, is where you're meant to be. Enjoying, learning, growing, as well as hurting, wishing, and feeling. You're meant to feel the entire spectrum of feelings all the time, because that is kind of how people work. Life is neither 100% discontent, nor 100% content. You deal with both of these feelings, but you make the most of where you are, because life is meant to be lived in the present. 

This photo was taken at Hunter Creek Trail and it was absolutely breathtaking! It is also the only photo I took on the entire hike. Don't get me wrong, there were so many phenomenal photo ops, but what's remarkable is I wanted to just experience it in the moment, so I only took this one. It's pretty remarkable how much our brains are capable of remembering on their own!