STOP LIVING IN THE FUTURE AND LIVE FULLY NOW

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Alan Watts again delivers a concise and comforting argument of turning your attention to the present moment. He explains the ladder in which western society is built upon and itโ€™s never ending escalation toย dissatisfaction. Although planning and prediction isย a great human attribute we must return to the present moment as much as possible to enjoy the fruits of our actions, otherwise we never will. We have to stop living in the future and live fully now.

โ€œThere always seems to be a ladder before you, something for which you are reaching all the time. Then, suddenly when are about forty or forty-five years old in the middle of yourย life you wake up one day and sayโ€ฆ Huh? Iโ€™ve arrived, and I feel pretty much the same as Iโ€™ve always felt, in fact, Iโ€™m not so sure that I donโ€™t feel a little bit cheated. Because you seeโ€ฆ you were fooled, you were always living for somewhere where you arenโ€™t. And while as I said it is of tremendous use for us to be able look ahead in this way and to plan. There is no use planning for a future which when you get to it and it becomes a present, you wonโ€™t be thereโ€ฆ youโ€™ll be living in some other future which hasnโ€™t yet arrived. And so in this way one is never able actually to inherit and enjoy the fruits of ones actions. You canโ€™t live at allโ€ฆ unless you can live fully, now.โ€

 

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  1. Terry D. Pickron Avatar
    Terry D. Pickron

    …this has helped me; live in the present using my own standards and rules…

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