Reflecting and envisioning - peering backward and forward in time. Bookends of the human life process. Each are essential elements for understanding reality. Yet if you’re not careful, both hold trapdoors that will plunge you into delusional Neverlands of what never was or what never might be.
Mental
feedback loops. We’ve all been there. Playing and replaying in your head those vivid,
but ultimately unconstructive narratives. Scenarios mentally repeated over and
over to the point of obsession. Yet like some artificial foodstuff packaged as healthy,
in truth it’s devoid of nutritional (or in this case, spiritual) benefits. Like
margarine.
Nobody’s
arguing to ignore the future. Like most folks, I know how Aesop’s fable “The
Ant and the Grasshopper” ends. Hint: it ain’t pretty for the grasshopper. So
sure, keep an eye on the future. It’s vitally important. In fact, it’s common
sense.
What’s
less apparent, thanks to our oppressive cultural norms, is the rate of
diminishing return for the poor, hard-working ant. And its corresponding quality
of life. Compulsively toiling for a future it may or may not even be alive to
experience. As such, there’s more to living than planning for a distant life
that hasn’t happened and may never will.
Instead,
it’s prudent to remain rooted in the present. In the end, it's the only place
that matters. And just like obsessing on the future, the past can also hamper
your way of being if you’re not careful – even if your past was a bright and
shiny one.
See,
a sunny past is addicting. Recalling your glory days as if they were yesterday
when it was five, 10 or 20 years ago. A bright and successful past can cause
folks to cling to an illusion. One in which what was comes to matter as much as what is.
Same
with a dark past. It can be so bright that its glare overshadows the
possibilities of what could be. And it can definitely swallow whole what is
happening now, in the moment.
What
to do?
Only
you know the answer to that, but here's a clue. Look in the mirror. But get up
close because sometimes that looking glass reflects back falsehoods. That's the
trap.
Just
like those warped circus mirrors, it can magnify and distort impressions of
past successes and failures.
In
the end it’s helpful to take note, celebrate or mourn what you see. But
ultimately let them go. Instead of reliving the past, look at today's you. The
right now you. Be the one seeking what is. Not what was or might be.
How
do you achieve this? Listen close, really close.
If
you do, you'll hear something. That something is a voice telling you how you feel.
What you need to do. How you need to be. Where you need to go. And how you
might get there. Just get quiet and you'll hear it.
Listen
and discern. Then start walking. Even if, on the surface, it doesn't make sense
at first. Trust yourself. Sometimes the obvious choice is the wrong one.
Comfort can go stale (or run scared) in crisis. Keep that truth in mind. Then
go out there and claim today’s self. It’s your destiny.
Follow J.R. on Twitter @4humansbeing or
contact him at 4humansbeing@gmail.com.
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