The paradox of living: do you live for today or plan for the future?
When it comes to life and living, there seem to be an unavoidable paradox. No one is guaranteed tomorrow, much less next week. You could leave the house and be taken out by a freak accident, a drunk driver, mugging gone bad, etc. logically since you don’t know which is your last day you should live everyday to the fullest and live it like there is no tomorrow, because there may not be. That lends itself to problems. We being a future centric, obtaining goods and service on time; receiving a bill for them later. We do not pay as we go. One has to plan on what to do if you happen to live into the future. If you went wild and spent all of your resources, you might find the future less fun. Which side of the paradox do you gamble on the most; believing you had better live it up as much as you can while you can because you might never get way down the road of life as you expect, or do you plan carefully because you plan on getting far into the future?
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17 Answers
Now
is the only moment
there is.
I am constantly worried about the future which prevents me from living for the day.
Most of us do that at some time or another, @Leanne1986.
I pray that one day it C*L*I*C*K*S for you
that all the time spent practicing “worry”
does little more than make one
an Expert Worrier.
(Practice makes perfect!)
I live FOR today. Though I plan for tomorrow and next weeks and months.
But mostly in live TODAY and for today because I cannot really knows what can happen.
Circumstances describe our lives but one needs to be concerned more about today.
Yesterday is
HISTORY
tomorrow, a
MYSTERY
but NOW is a
GIFT.
This is why it’s called…
...the PRESENT.
It isn’t a paradox. A paradox is not reconcilable with the facts of reality.
This issue is totally reconcilable.
Unless you know to a level from high probability to certainty to the contrary, you can reasonably assume that the sun will rise tomorrow and that you will be here.
Given the following-
We know that human values do not just appear. They must be recognized, created/ developed or harvested/utilized.
We also know that life presents distinct cycles. Among these cycles are times of plenty and times of scarcity.
A reasonable person will produce or harvest plenty (in the present) in anticipation of times of scarcity (the future). A reasonable person will have fun today in case they are occupied by serious challenges tomorrow. Etc. Etc.
No paradox. No mutually exclusive choices. Just the eternal roller coaster of existence.
As someone who has done it both ways, I still kind of like planning ahead a bit. I think this stems from me being used to doing it. I always prepare for the future because I have anxiety issues. I know it worsens my anxiety to a degree because I’m freaking out about things that haven’t or even won’t happen, yet. This helped me when crap hit the fan, because I already had a plan. I had a lot of troubles, but it did help me out. I love chaos to a certain degree, mostly because I’m used to it, but I also like to have things organized and planned out.
Recently, I’ve been more for live in the now. I’ve been told this by many people, that I should live for the present and not worry so much. I have enjoyed it to a certain degree, but I did realize that when bad things that I didn’t plan for happened, I’d break down much harder and faster. Not to mention that sometimes I think that as a parent I shouldn’t be living in the now, that’s is selfish, but it works out for kids. Hehe.
I try to live in the present, but plan for the future.
I’m a now kinda girl. I ‘trust’ that my needs will be met, as they arise, and while I do have a savings account, I see it as being there for now, rather than later, meaning, if I need it NOW, well, isn’t that WHY I save? lol
Live life as it comes. Each new day brings new opportunities. Each day is different to me.
I do plan, but I’ve learnt from experience that planning too much or sacrificing your present for the future isn’t a wise move.
My father (he’s the one that I’ve seen this happen in) used to plan for his future. He still enjoyed the present, but future planning was important . Then after my mom died, he lost most of his future planning and live almost entirely in the present now. I think that there are many reasons contributing to the shift- my mom’s death, his age- he was born in 1946, and the influence of my stepmother. I don’t think that you can point to any one of these reasons, and I might have missed the real reason entirely.
Of course a terrorist attack, major earthquake or a meteor could take us out tomorrow….or not. But I think that you can enjoy today while preparing for the possibility of making it to tomorrow. Nevertheless the driving force for most of what I do is more for the future than for today. I enjoy living a healthy lifestyle (no alcohol, tobacco or other recreational drugs) and workout vigorously physically daily so that I will stronger or at least maintain strength in the future (old age). I practice my trumpet regularly because it is fun today and also so I might play better in the future. Even though future taxation and high economic inflation could leave us all broke, I still have fun working hard at work to generate enough money for today as well as for retirement.
I cry bitterly over the past and sit in constant fear of the future!!!!!!!!
False dichotomy, it is entirely possible to do both, and I do.
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I do both, planning even a day in advance motivates me to get up and do what needs to be done today.
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