I never think of the future. It comes soon enough.
--- Albert Einstein.
whenever I see people worried about what happened about past and even more worried about there future, I remember a statement, a statement which my mother always used to say to me when I was a kid. The statement was - My son, don't worry about your past and future. Think about present. If you will make your present better, your past and future, both will be beautiful and glorious.
Why Maa?? I used to ask this question again and again.
"Because, each and every passing moment of present is your past and every next moment is your future. So, if you change the present, you are going to change your past as well as future."
And till now, whenever she feels that I am worried about any happening or I am thinking a lot about my future, I listen the above statement and her words helping me to get out of worries.
It is shlok of 'Shri Bhagvada Geeta' a spiritual book of Hinduism teaching us to work without worrying about future, the result...
No prizes for guessing which one!
In Devnagari:
कर्मण्ये वाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचना
कर्मफलेह्तुर भुरमा ते संगोस्त्वकर्मानी॥
च २, ४७
In English transliteration:
Karmanye vadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachna
Karmaphalehtur bhurma te sangostvakarmani.
Ch. 2, 47
Many of us are so obsessed with planning for the future that we forget that we need to live now, today, in the present moment. The reality of life is that we need to keep the future in mind when enjoying the wonders of life today, but that does not imply that we have to be so wary that the future looks draconian, monstrous and terrifying. Getting the right mix of an enjoyable present, reminiscing the beautiful past and carefully nurturing the future is a challenge for every human being.
The present is where we are and the past will remain a memory but it is the future that will embrace us soon and so gives us opportunities to prepare for that meeting. In the present, we have to go ahead and do what is most opportune, appropriate and live up to our potential. Most times though we let our past overshadow our present and makes us so cautious that we lose our risk taking ability, our capacity to enjoy the present and we spend more time protecting ourselves from our imaginary eventualities. The future too beckons us with hope and so many possibilities, yet in the present moment we are fearful of losing that and so we plan to grab and grasp as much as we can now in the fond hope that we shall enjoy the fruits of our prudence in the future. Alas, when the future comes it becomes the present and we are still grabbing and grasping rather than letting go and enjoying the delights that come to our door step daily.
It is apt here to recollect the story of a man who was given a boon to keep for himself all the land that he could lay claim on by running around it and marking it in a 24 hour period. While he started with moderate aspirations, greed soon overcame him and he went further and further trying to mark out as much as he could. In the end he had tire himself so much that no sooner he arrived at the starting point he collapsed and died, and all he occupied when he was buried was the coffin space. If we pause at this moment and put ourselves in that mans shoes, we will soon realize that we too are almost following a similar path craving for more, physically and emotionally draining ourselves in the pursuit of more and suddenly it might strike you that you cannot outpace the future!
Yes it is a profound realization that the future will be here soon enough and then are we ready to say yes it is time I made the best of the present and let the future take care of itself? The key is to pace yourself in the pursuit of happiness, for that is what we all crave; decide when you are going to enjoy the fruit of your labor for as they say the present is gift from God that we need to unwrap and savor daily.
Remember:
"The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.” Abraham Lincoln
1. Make a list of 5 things that you feel will give you the security for the future. Be specific about it. Don’t just say lots of money, good health, happy family etc. None of these are specific. Instead put a figure that is in your opinion reasonable savings for your standard of living. Outline how you propose to keep fit in terms of weigh, diet etc.
2. If you got a windfall of Rs.1,00,000 how will you utilize it? This will give you a clue as to your mental make up about how secure you feel about your present and future. How much is the saving your plan to do. Are you going to indulge in the one passion that you were longing to do for a long time? How much will you spent to celebrate this windfall?
Sources:- Internet and Magazines
