What’s Next?
I often feel like we, as people, are always looking forward. I find a lot of people ask what your plan is for the future. What are you doing after school? What are you doing after your wedding? What does your next year look like? Very rarely do people ask about now in great detail. We talk about the present in general terms. Only those closest to you get to hear the nitty gritty of now. I wish we accepted people who focus on their now. As someone who struggles with my future, I get anxious when people ask me “What’s next?” I don’t know. I really don’t. I have spent so much time worried about it, and I guarantee that fifteen year old me would be confused about my present. But that’s also really wonderful. We can’t predict where we’ll end up or what we’ll end up doing, yet we spend so much time trying to plan for it. Talking about the future is really not worth it at the end of the day. You’re just dreaming, and sure that’s nice. But I wish people cared about now. How much happier would everyone be if we just talked about the things we’re doing at that moment? Instead of worrying about if our future is good enough or interesting enough for the person listening.
I spend so much time telling people about my future plans and feeling inadequate. Feeling like I’m stupid or that they think I’m thinking too widely. But out future is our own. It is no one else’s plan, so dream big. But at the end of the day, plans are fallible. They’re nice to have, but they seldom come true. So I vote we spend our time talking about now, as it’s what’s happening. It’s real and interesting. We have to stop acting like people’s present happenings aren’t worth our time. Because maybe if we all took time to appreciate our present, our futures wouldn’t be looming over us like storm clouds.
The moments I spend in the present, fully present and grateful for the moment, are when I’m happiest. If I’m not thinking too much, it’s a good sign of a good time. So I encourage all of you to learn to appreciate your present. Because as Andy Bernard says, “I wish there was way to know you were in the good, old days before you’ve actually left them.” Appreciate your present place. Ask other people about it. Let’s stop pretending the only interesting parts of people’s lives are the parts that haven’t and may never happen.