People say. "If I'm always setting goals and reaching for the future, then am I not squandering my now?" And we say if in your now you're using a future event to make you feel good, you are still feeling good in your now. And that's the best use of now that you could ever find.
The guidance I've received from this source has always been sound. And the above paragraph makes perfect sense to me. When I read it, I thought of my recent house-hunting escapades (which are not that recent- my last one took place nearly 2 years ago).
During the times I was totally wrapped up in finding a Victorian house in the downtown neighborhood, friends criticized me. They said I was "distracting myself." Distracting myself from what? From an unpleasant current reality? What's wrong with that?
I remember how I felt when I thought I was getting the house of my dreams. It was a high! It was energizing. It caused me to tackle my lifelong problem with housekeeping (because my current house had to be in showing condition). I think that anyone who is setting out to live according to his/her beliefs is going to experience an improved state of mind. By living near downtown, I would be adhering to my belief in getting around without the almighty automobile. I wanted to walk to work, walk to run errands, walk everywhere. Europeans and New Yorkers who live that way are measurably healthier than the rest of us.
There were several Victorian houses which I pursued leading up to the last and best one 2 years ago. The last one was so perfect for me and The Child that I gave up after that. The price of that house was unrealistically low- I had waited 3 years to make my offer, watching the price gradually reduce because that house was not suited for the average buyer (it lacked a garage to house the almighty automobile!):
Since then I have become "distracted" by other things, but nothing has had the powerful effect on me that the house dream did. Yesterday, when I had no choice but to drive down dangerously icy roads to get to and from work downtown, I thought wistfully of that house which was almost mine. Had I lived in the dream house, I could have walked or bussed to work. (Or I could have driven a few short blocks!)
The older I become, the more convinced I am that we live life in our heads. How else can we explain why 2 people going through the same experience have 2 completely different responses? If our head happens to be distracted by the possibility of a dream come true, then so much the better.
