Anticipating for nothing...?
It is possible that we humans are the only species with the capacity to imagine the future, to create in our minds plans for a time that we do not know if it will come. That can be a blessing but at the same time a misfortune.
In all ages people have used anticipation as a very valuable resource. The farmer goes to bed thinking about the best way to do his sowing. The teacher thinks about how to facilitate the learning of his students... The general spends his days thinking about the best strategy to be victorious in the battlefield...
It is inevitable, we will always be thinking about finding some solution for events that are about to occur. Somehow we are tied to that thought, so thinking about the future has become one of the strongest habits that inhabit our brain.
In our days the habit of anticipating is questioned a lot, it is said that putting our thoughts in the future uselessly exhausts our energies and that it is a sure passage to a life full of anxiety... It is said that the healthiest thing is to "focus on the present..."
In the 171st installment of the excellent challenge from our friend @galenkp we are left with an invitation to reflect on those unproductive habits we have. Let me tell you...
Since I was a child I have had a tendency to fantasize, to imagine situations that do not exist. I remember many times thinking about the thousands of endings a story could have. I got used to let my thoughts run forward, so it is very natural for me to have my mind set on the future.
That way of thinking has made me cautious, so I have been able to solve many situations in life, it has given me the opportunity to come out on top when unforeseen events occur, and to have the necessary resources to deal with unbudgeted expenses, or an everyday accident. In these cases, thinking about the future has been useful.
But having become accustomed to anticipating has also made me unhappy. I have lost many a sleepless night thinking about useless outcomes that never came. Anticipating, for example, solutions to businesses that later have deflated, that did not take off, that stagnated, or that did not even get off the ground.
I have suffered imagining people's answers that later have been different, kinder and less dramatic than what I had fantasized in my mind... I have experienced a lot of anguish for not knowing how to stop in time the thoughts that present me with apocalyptic futures...
I recognize that it has been very difficult for me to leave my thoughts anchored to the present. Sometimes I think it is not possible, I am convinced that without letting our mind wander towards that non-existent time we call future we could not feed our dreams, and without dreams there is no motivation, and without motivation life would lose sense...
The best thing would be to find the balance, to think about the future as much as necessary to guarantee some relatively immediate achievements. For example, to plan tomorrow's shopping, or to make the publication that we have on the agenda...
The reality is that the further we go ahead in time, the less likely it is that the future will be as we imagine it to be. There are many variables involved in any prediction, that is why time reports are effective when it comes to very small lapses, hours or days. Few would dare to rely on a weather forecast for a month or more...
Changing a habit is not easy, it takes a lot of commitment and willpower to achieve it, but we can all minimize the effects of those unhealthy habits.
The first thing is to recognize where we stand, from there we can take action. In my case, it took me a long time to become aware that I was a slave of that bad habit of dreaming about the future. But once I identified it, I started to work on it. That's what I'm doing now, trying to keep it at bay so that it doesn't bother my life....
As I have always enjoyed writing the post, I thank friend @galenkp for the thought provoking invitation.
Thanks for your time.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Logo creado por @themanualbot
I identified myself very much with this publication, in my case I worry a lot about things that have not yet happened and will surely never happen. They say that anxiety is an excess of future, so as you say, I think it is good to plan the future according to what is possible and what we can somehow control because it seems that the problem is when thinking about the future is excessive and the matter worsens when we imagine the worst scenarios.
The important thing is that you are realizing it in time, you are very young and you can take steps not to waste your energy on unnecessary thoughts. All the time you spend controlling your mind will be of benefit to you later on. Thanks for stopping by and commenting dear @verdesmeralda . A big hug from Maracay.
I believe that while we waste time fantasizing we do not take advantage of the present.
Greetings friend @irvinc
It is not easy to learn to stay in the present but you have to try. Thank you very much for stopping by and commenting my dear @mafalda2018 . A big hug from Maracay.
thank you so much for your support, dear @galenkp
😊