Questioning Living in the Moment

Lately, many of the Law Of Attraction gurus have been promoting “living in the moment”. They tell us that the only way to be happy is to “be in the here and now”.

They tell us that the only way to achieve success and live the life we want is to start living in the present moment and experience it for the gift that it is.

They tell us, forget the past, it’s gone. You can’t change it, no matter how much you obsess on it.

And that is so true.

We should learn from our mistakes, and cherish happy memories. Otherwise, the past is useless. Dwelling on it, especially the parts that were unhappy, only holds us back and keeps us from fulfilling our potential. I agree that it is time to let go and move on.

Then they go one more step and tell us, don’t worry about the future.

Whoa!

That’s where I have to part ways from this line of thinking.

The theory is that you can only be happy in the here and now. They tell us that the reasons kids are happy is because they are living in the moment with no thought to the past or the future.

That thought is fine as far as it goes. But it doesn’t go far enough. It doesn’t think it through to a logical conclusion.

Even a kid has to give some thought to the future. If s/he doesn’t study for an upcoming (future) test, s/he may fail it. If s/he doesn’t think of the future when choosing high school classes, s/he may find him/herself denied entrance to college or unprepared for the job of his/her choosing.

In adulthood, we continue to need to plan for the future. We must think ahead and budget our time, money and energy. If we were to spend all of our money today, we wouldn’t be able to buy food or pay the rent next week.

If everyone lived only for today and did not plan for the future, our lives would dissolve into chaos.

They tell us that daydreaming is unproductive. That is only partially true. We can agree that one should not spend an inordinate amount of time dreaming about “what if”. And wishful thinking, such as,  “I’ll be happy when….(I get this or that)” is totally counter productive. That type of daydreaming should be eliminated.

But, eliminating daydreaming altogether isn’t the answer. If there were no daydreams, there would be no new inventions, no new cures for diseases, no new artwork or songs. What a sad world that would be.

I’m not advocating dismissing the “living in the moment” premise totally. Obviously, many of the ideas it puts forth are good. And just as obviously, those promoting it are very successful. But can they honestly say that they don’t spend any time planning for the future?

As with everything in life, the key lies in moderation. Accept this premise for the good things that it offers, and use your common sense in rejecting those that do not enhance your well-being.