Does future-thinking sabotage the now?
Inspired by this post from Mel Schwartz at A Shift of Mind, let’s talk about the fallacy of thinking “I’ll be happy when …” It’s easy to fall into the trap fo thinking that you’ll be happier when you meet the right person, get the perfect job, lose 5—or 15—pounds, have time to paint, whatever. But is that projection of happiness being far-off actually holding you back from seeing the happiness in front of you?
Mel says in his post, “Happiness can only occur in the moment that you’re in and can only be sustained by developing a nurturing relationship with yourself and, hopefully, others. The ultimate source of happiness lies in the quality of your thoughts.”
Are you thinking quality happy thoughts now, or are you letting yourself fall into the fallacy of future-think? Can you build a nurtuing relationship with yourself that says you are happy now, and if you meet the right person/find the perfect job/lose weight/paint for several hours each evening, your happiness will change, but it will not be better or worse than this current happiness?
The trick is identifying this moment as its own, and letting all the other moments be their own version of happy, different, but all part of you.
Image: Some rights reserved by Mike Johnston