“The fool, with all his other faults, has this also – he is always getting ready to live.” -Epicurus
Have you ever found yourself in that mindset where you keep thinking that life will finally be better or complete when ________? I know I've been there. I couldn't wait until I finished high school. Then I was looking forward to being done with Marine Corps recruit training. My life was going to be on track once I finished my five year contract in the Marines. Then I just knew that life would really start once I got married. But once I was married I felt like life would finally begin once I had kids. The list goes on and on and on. All the while, life was happening. I was anticipating the next thing while time was ticking.
The really wise among us learn from the lives of other people instead of having to make all of their own mistakes. Fortunately, I’ve heard enough people say that they wish they would’ve cherished their time with their children while they were young instead of working so much that I took it to heart. From day one of being a father, I’ve been committed to spending time with my kids and making them a priority. Even though that’s the case, I still find that I blink and years have passed. I still find myself from time to time anticipating the next stage in life. It seems unavoidable. But is it?
Many writings of the Stoic philosopher‘s address this human issue. There is a common theme about living in the moment, seizing the day, and making the most of our time on this earth. It seems that even before the fast pace of the 21st century people were already struggling with living in the present. James, the brother of Jesus and a leader in the early Christian Church had this to say when speaking about making assumptions about the future:
Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. James 4:14 ESV
We simply don't know what the future will bring. We aren't even promised a tomorrow. What we do have is now. We can't control others and we can't control all of our circumstances, but we can do what we can with what we have. We can live while we have life.
There is certainly nothing wrong with planning for the future, but when all we do is look forward to the future, we lose the present. We are here, right now. And we ought to live immediately. I know far too many people that are working themselves into bad health and mental instability just so they can enjoy retirement. But none of us know how many years we have in this life. To work for 30+ years only to retire and relax for a few more doesn’t seem like a fair trade off to me. I’m going to live now.
“Putting things off is the biggest waste of life: it snatches away each day as it comes, and denies us the present by promising the future. The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow and loses today. You are arranging what lies in Fortune’s control, and abandoning what lies in yours. What are you looking at? To what goal are you straining? The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately.” – Seneca.