Exercise Your Wonder and Excitement Today: Tomorrow Is but a Blur

Tomorrow, I’m leaving on a three-week trip to Japan with my family. Over the past few weeks, some of my friends have been asking me if I’m excited about my upcoming trip.

I think I might disappoint them when I say that I’m not. But then I share how I like to live in the moment. Right here, right now. So, if I’m talking with you, I’m eager to enjoy our conversation and get the most from our time together, not think about what I’ll be doing in the future.

Other friends, especially those who have known me longer, already know how I’ll respond. These friends might say, “I’m looking forward to your trip. I know you never get excited in advance – so I’ll be excited for you.”

I smile and offer thanks.

But what I’m thinking about is my intention to pay attention to everything in the moment. This day, this hour, and especially this moment that will never come again. The timbre of your voice, the hesitancy of my response, the setting itself — these are well worth making a conscious effort to observe, and appreciate

The reason is simple. If I spend today looking forward to tomorrow, I will miss a large part of today. And tomorrow I would be looking forward to the day after that, etc.  Any attention I spend thinking about the future reduces the attention I have left to appreciate the here and now. I could value only the future. The present would just be something to get through to arrive at what awaits me in in the future, instead of enjoying the good stuff that can only be found in living in today.

But I do enjoy the process of planning, as well as reminiscing about previous experiences — the poignant, the successes, and the occasional mistake — some of which are funny in retrospect. Like this afternoon after I picked up a hamburger and fish fillet sandwich at McDonalds, then remembered that my assistant had earlier placed an order for a hamburger at Five Guys.

So I drove to Five Guys and picked up their “little burger”. My light dinner consisted of the hamburger and filet of fish sandwich. It’s a mistake I won’t make again.

To fully appreciate this moment, you might pay attention to what you are reading – the words on the page, the music you are listening to, or your own reaction to my thoughts. I encourage you to luxuriate in this moment.

NOW is where you live your life. The past is prelude. The future is a but a dream.

Alan