Hooray! A medium for sharing my thoughts with more people than just you! Well here goes, most of this will be copies/pastes from our IM conversation, and won't be super well worded, but I can go into more depth if anyone feels like talking about it.

As you said, "Why can't you focus on the present and change your future according to the present instead of changing the present to fit the future?" That just makes more sense to me. You assure your future is going to be better via making what you're doing today better, as opposed to changing everything you're doing to fit some ambiguous "goal."

I'm not saying that the future doesn't matter, but the future and things I'm looking forward to... I'm looking forward to them so I can experience them when my future becomes my present, not just so I can get there. You know what they say about the journey, not the destination. If you ask me, the destination is death, dying, the end of the line, because things go on after any event in your life other than that. Even if your ultimate goal is having a succesful career and a family, once you have that career and family, then what? Do you no longer have any future? That's ridiculous.


Obviously, doing things in the present that will screw up your future, what will be your present, isn't smart, but you shouldn't not care about the present and focus solely on the future.

You also raise a good point with B. Let's say you're working towards some ultimate goal. Okay, cool. Once you get that your life will be perfect, you'll have everything you want, you can enjoy life, be content, etc, but until that point your life has to be absolute shit as you sacrifice everything to get there. You have little to no free time, you can't enjoy the little (or even the big) things in life. You have a poor social life, you don't get to see or do things with friends, meet people, form new friendships and strong bonds, or do anything other than focus on working on attaining your goal...

And then, before you reach your goal, you get into a car accident and are crippled for life. Then what was the point of giving up all of that? You never get your time back, ever. Once it's gone, it's gone, no matter what happens to you tomorrow. That's why you should enjoy and live for each and every day.

There's nothing wrong or deplorable about having goals in my opinion, none at all. But sacrificing things to attain those goals is another thing. I suppose it's all subjective and comes down to opinion, as sacrificing a weekend every now and then isn't that big of a deal, as opposed to sacrificing every waking moment of free time. Nothing is black and white, and we can't deal in absolutes.

Still, though, I think it's important for everyone to at least consider the present and what they're giving up for their future, and if it's really worth it. In a lot of cases, I'm sure it will be, but I'm also sure there will be plenty of situations where people give up more than they should be. "My life sucks balls right now, I don't have good relationships with the people I care about, I'm lonely, and I want something more from my life, but there's nothing I can do about it right now because I'm busy making sure I have a 4.0." There seems to be something wrong with that mentality, to me.

Good bulletin, good thoughts. Keep in mind, dear readers, that everything I say is objective - obviously nothing applies to every situation, and there's many, MANY shades of gray... It's just the concept, I think, that's important.

 

From Miss Kammi Sheeler,
    i just did actually, and i could not agree more. i get on that same thinking track quite often these days, as i realize everything i do and have done is/was to prepare for a future that i am in no way guaranteed. far too often i have neglected embracing the life i have today in each moment for the sake of trying to fix some far off and mysterious aspect of what i think may be to come in my life. its a bad way to go. i would so much rather spend my time watching movies with my girls, sitting around with stefan, sharing quality time with my family, or standing on hilltops at night speculating on the ways of the universe with a couple very good friends. so why don't i? the thing is, this year i've taken on so much that whenever i try to live in the present and be happy, something goes wrong in the obligations department. its rough.
and interestingly enough, whenever i ponder the issues of time, i also come to the conclusion that the life of a wandering nomad, hobo, or mountain hermit is the most appealing. hands down. i'm happiest when i can sit and appreciate the time i have, rather than cram a life i don't want into any empty space i can find. i'm tired of a life thats all about work and jobs and responsibilities-- all that is so worthless. more than that, its detrimental. i want it all to go away, so i am left only with summer, sunshine, and days where nothing is scheduled and i can spend them all with people i care about. this year especially...it seems so much more important. i have six months- SIX -until this part of my life is over. until i have to leave everything with which i am familiar behind, including the best friends i could ever hope to make. i don't want to do that. and most importantly, i don't want to spend my final six months in a straightjacket of obligations. kinda too late for that now tho...i'm just waiting for them all to go away. unfortunately that will happen when i have only three months left...holy jeez. i don't like this. i hate time sean. and i don't know how to deal with it anymore. i know what i want to do with it but not how to get there, except to just let down all of my responsibilities....dammit. its hard. hard hard.
 

It's funny because some time ago, I began joking with Liz that instead of doing all this college stuff and persuing politics and blah blah blah, I would run off to Europe after high school, live doing crazy jobs, hopping from country to country, living the crazy, exciting life, drinking wine, eating cheese and bread, and learning all sorts of languages. Lately it has admittedly become less and less of joke. There is all this pressure on the future and you hit the nail on the head dear.

More and more students and people are finding there are simply not enough hours in the day for all their obligations. Personal joy? Nonexistant. A huge part of it is school. How often can you take things for yourself? How often are in a class that genuinely reflects your interests? Sure, people say that is for college, but why? People are more motivated when they are passionate or at least interested in something. Yet here we find our lives driven my grad credits, standardized tests, and bell-to-bell schedules. Each bit of our life can be broken down into some smaller time frame. 'High school' is 'senior year' is 'chinese class' is '55 minutes of unadulterated hell each day'. Our lives are regulated by the ticking of a hand on our watch or the change of date on our cell phones. But has anything really changed? People used to live from sun up to sun down. Not focused on the future, only because they were never sure if there would be one. Yet their lives still revolved around time. But, it makes you wonder how that worked out for them. And how is that those who ignore all those constraints are the happiest? I don't think it's that humans aren't meant to live within time, but rather those who possess the mind to escape them will be better off. Leaders vs follows. Of course the leaders are better off.

And I realize that was long and rambling. But I thoroughly enjoyed your blog darling, just as you said. Come run off to Europe with me?

 

Sounds like a plan. Maybe all this concern about time and schedule is the way that life in the world has been formed. We've gone from struggles to survive to sturggles to live a day without a computer. 
 

Um, well, gee. The future. It's kind of a big deal for me. And even though I see that for a lot of people, giving up things now because it will help you have a better time "in the future" seems stupid, it seems stupid to me to give up things in the future because you'd rather have a better time now. For example, the people who choose not to do their homework/study because they'd rather be responding to their friend's blogs on Myspace. Sure, they might be having fun at that moment. But, by not studying for that test... it can ruin an entire semesters work. And failing a class might not seem like the end of the world, but it can really mess up your GPA, which can really mess up your transcript, which can cause you to not get into the college of your choice. And if your future and career is hinging on a proper college educations (And in this day and age, you need a college degree to do a lot most anything), that can ruin the next forty years of your life. So, even though, I'm all for taking a break, and enjoying life, I think it's really important to think about  how your actions now will affect your future, because the truth is, high school isn't life. And life after high school is longer than life in high school. High school is only four years, for goodness sakes.

Point: Enjoy life now, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't consider the consequences of your action in regards to your future.

 

You seem to miss the entire point of this. I'm not saying "give up now it's not worth it." I'm saying that their's more to life than preparing yourself for the future. An unsure future that you think will happen. An unsure future that is focusing on a goal, not the destination. Learning about life compared to learning about "life" that we as humans created, and doing it in the time that we know we have, now, instead of the assumed time, later in life. Change what you want later based off of what it is that you're pursuing now. It's not this "screw obligations, screw the man, and screw being an adult." It's about experience, and wonders that are yet to be discovered by me or my friends. It's about relationships with people that are the most unique people you'll ever meet. It's about the time we had and times we have, not what we haven't reached yet. It's about the journey, not the destination.

 

I've always hated the phrase, "It's about the journey, not the destination". I'm not saying that the journey isn't important, but risking what we could have in the future just so we can have a little happiness now seems ludicrous to me. Yes, enjoying the moment is important. But, if you really want something, and the only way to get it is to give up things now... well, it may be worth it. Even if it's a long shot. I think I'm kind of a perfect example of this. I want to be a Broadway singer. I am seriously aware that the likelihood of that happening is pretty much zero. But, that doesn't mean that I'm not going to work really hard, and give up other things (my Friday nights for example) to help me achieve that. Even though I may want to go to a party Friday night, it's more important to my future that I practice and go to my voice lesson. Because even the chance of being on Broadway is ten time more fabulous to me that going to some party.But, still, that's just me.

 

I don't know... I think I'm still missing your point.

 

My response won't be as elaborate as everyone else's, but I just got home and I'm tired.I honestly see what you're saying now, better than before. But I still think you're missing something. Preparing for the future versus enjoying the present isn't all black and white. I want to enjoy myself by living in the moment, but I also in the future want to be able to look back and say "Oh my goodness, thank god I prepared myself for this. It's improved my life so much." And I think that specifically is what I'm working towards. It's not that I'm wasting my life away in the depths of despair as I prepare myself for college and beyond. I'm enjoying gaining new knowledge, learning about myself, and YES doing all my homework. I don't think it's practical to say, "well, I don't want to spend the rest of my life working towards future goals, so I'm just going to play video games instead of doing my homework." Yes, life is great when you're playing video games, but it's your perspective on life that I think needs to change.I know that for me, personally, I've been keeping myself busy for a long time, with the future in mind. But I've also looked back and thought "I'm SOOOO happy I chose to work hard so things right now would be so much simpler." And they are. But I'm also enjoying myself. Really.Anywho, about the whole time not slowing down ever for anyone thing, yeah that's always freaked me out. All the money and power in the world still can't allow you to stop time, even for a moment. I hate it. It makes me feel insignificant, and everything unimportant. Because, whether we like it or not, we ALWAYS end up with the same fate. *shudders*I would write more but I'm very tired. I might come back to this some other time.
 

I thank you for that, but I don't mean not doing anything for the future when I focus on the present. Maybe I didn't explain that at all. This blog isn't about massive procrastination and laziness. It's about all that life has to offer and picking and choosing out of the bunch that you end up experiencing. I don't not do any work. I work for me, and myself, in the present, and that's when I get stuff done. I don't have plans for the future, I don't want to dedicate my life to one thing like a dream or a goal. I want to find out anything and everything about something I'm passionate for. It's not a "hey imma goin' to play sum video games today, and maybe take a nap..." it's much more than that. It's taking in what can be taken in in this little reality we call life; and there's a lot more ways to do that than just getting the grades.
Kudos for me?

 

I really don't know a whole lot to say about this other than you took the thoughts that have been VERY prevalent in my mind and focused them out on one, grand blog. I'm pretty much in the same boat as you. Personally I think 4 years of enjoying your life is worth the extra (possibly) year or so that you'll have to spend in community college doing something you actually like, and thats if you want to go to a university too. I personally totally think that people should not fret so much about the future bu rather seize the present and make it work to it's fullest potential so that we will enjoy life further on, if it's what you should be or want to be doing right now...then its homework. Or if there are other and/or prior engagements then take care of those. It's a fickle balance but still one of the most natural to engage, and that's the benefit of a spiritually and actively balanced life.
 

I'd also like to quote Houston Kraft, if I may.

"Life consists of so many things that it is impossible to take in everything, but it is important to remember that each moment is unique and irretrievable, so make out of it what you can...realize that you are living your life RIGHT NOW and that each and every second that passes by is a piece of your own life, comprehend this and understand its power in that you can do anything you want with that moment in time, good or bad, and it can determine your future.

Contemplate the fact that each and every person is seeing through their own eyes and body at any given moment and living a whole separate life than yours...thinking, doing, believing, dreaming, sleeping...everything you do but with someone else, and there are billions of them!"