What is the future?

“Take the time today to enjoy the little things” ~ Michele Knight

Today is November 9th and only 46 days until Christmas. How does that even happen? It seems like only yesterday we were bringing in the New Year. Most people I speak to spend their lives working and focusing on the future. You will hear them say that they are working towards their retirement, or they will take that trip when their kids are out of the house, or when they finally retire they will have time to do what they truly love. 

What is the future? Tomorrow is really the future of today and today is the past of yesterday. Can you remember when you were a child and you had dreams about the future? Back then we had imaginations! Technically, when you think about it, we are living in that “future” right now. Does it look and feel the way you thought it would? Are you happy, fulfilled and doing everything you ever dreamt of? Is this what you imagined the future to be? 

So we run through the motions of life to work hard towards a future, that we don’t even recognize as the future when we get there. And while we are so busy working hard for this “ultimate” future, we miss out on so many things!

How many times have you been to busy working for the future that you haven’t had time to play with your kids, read them a book or attend their sporting event or music recital? How many times have you had to cancel date night with your spouse or significant other or Sunday dinner with your aging parents? How many times have you missed out on that European Vacation or beach getaway so you could continue to work and save up for the future? 

My coach, the beautiful Melanie Ann Layer brought this to my attention several months ago. She reminded me, that when we exit this earth we have seven minutes of brain activity that plays back all of the most meaningful memories we created in our life time.  Seven minutes. This really got my mind going and I decided to quit worrying about the future that I won’t even recognize when I get there, and instead put my focus on creating memories every single day! I decided that I wanted to create a seven minute masterpiece!

When you wake up every morning and declare that you are going to make a memory, the whole outlook of your day changes. There is a quote by Alice Morse Earle ~ “Everyday may not be good…but there’s something good in everyday”. When I started, with purpose and on purpose to look for the good in each and everyday my life changed. I started responding to negative situations rather than reacting. I started asking myself, “How would I like to remember this situation in hindsight?” “How would I like to be remembered in this situation in hindsight?” 

So take sometime and ask yourself some questions. Who do you want to have a better relationship with? Who haven’t you been spending time with? Is there a trip you would like to go on? Is there a movie you would like to watch, live theatre, concert? What are the things that you have been wanting to do, but keep putting off? What could you do tomorrow to create a positive lasting memory? It doesn’t require you to spend a lot of money…some of the best memories don’t cost a cent! If you have small children, plan a simple picnic in the living room. If your kids are bigger just plan a meal at home with no cell phones and engage in conversation. Play a board game. Take a few extra minutes to give your spouse some extra attention. Plan a weekly date night.

Bottom line is that life gets busy and we get caught up in stuff that in the end really doesn’t matter. Take sometime and think about your last seven minutes and how you would like to see the memories playback for you. Ask yourself , “What really matters?”Create a masterpiece worthy of an Oscar!!