Mindfulness

Do Not Let Your Dreams Get In The Way Of Your Now

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There’s nothing wrong with having dreams but there is something wrong with constantly devaluing what’s in front of us right now and to instead focus most of our loving attention and energy on some imagined future.

The mistake many of us make is in coming to believe that somehow our present has very little to do with that future moment where we’ll have finally attained our dreams. We tell ourselves that in that moment we’ll finally feel whole, we’ll finally be happy, we’ll have finally reached the promise land, we’ll finally have solved all the existential problems plaguing us.

But the fact is that we can’t separate means from ends, as much as we might like to. The sorts of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors we cultivate on every step along the journey, in every moment, will be the same thoughts, feelings, and behaviors waiting for us upon the attainment of our dreams.

Many are disappointed to find, when they’ve reached the goal they set for themselves, that they’re still unsatisfied in their lives, that they still feel like something’s lacking, that they’re not happy, that they don’t feel complete. Some external conditions may have change but they quickly adjust to those external conditions and are left dealing with the exact same unwanted internal conditions that were there along. They secretly hoped all those internal conditions would transform upon attainment of their dream. But whatever euphoria comes from dream attainment wears off before long.

The better path is the mindful path, a path that encourages dreaming, that encourages the uniquely human ability to become, but simultaneously recognizes the fact that all the conditions for our happiness and fulfillment are already available, right now. We don’t have to wait for some far off date to start really living. we can really live now simply by deciding to focus more and more of our loving attention and energy on the present moment.