Getting worried or anxious about the future is a waste of our life

 By K.R. Nayar

Since none of us can know what our future will be, it is best not to get anxious about things to come. It could very well be that our future turns out to be happy and exciting, and hence it would be a massive waste fearing about the future now. So why not enjoy the present, do everything we need for a better tomorrow, and embrace the future with joy?

Many of us are always worried and scared about what would happen to us in the future, especially with events like the Covid19 pandemic affecting almost everyone in one way or the other. What happens in situations like this is that we forget to live in the present since our focus is constantly hooked on the future. But if we give it a little thought we will realise that it can only be a massive waste of our energies worrying about something that we have no control. 

Imagine if we all knew what our future would look like? I doubt if there would be any sparkle left in our lives then. Assume you already know who will be the winner of the oncoming ICC T20 World Cup in UAE. Would there be any thrill left in watching any of the matches then? So what is expected of us is to enjoy all the matches that we get to watch. The same applies to everything we do every day. 

Most of us get so much lost in our thoughts over what will happen in the future that we don’t even realise how fast the present has moved away without being enjoyed.  Let's take the example of learning an art or a sport. If we don’t learn the basics today and enjoy learning those things, it is unlikely that we will be able to be good at it or master it. What happens is that the anxiety over whether one will be a success in the future leads to a lack of focus on the basics we are supposed to be learning today.

The same is the case with our mental and physical health. If we think too much about the future anxiously and nurture a thought that something could go wrong with our health, then it could well happen that way. This is because by creating anxiety in the present, our mental health could weaken our physical health. Wrong thoughts weaken one’s muscles and there is hardly any urge to exercise and remain healthy.

According to me, boredom is also due to anxiety about the future. If we are excited about the future, is there a reason to get bored of the present? The thrill of what is going to happen would keep our minds away from the anxiety. If we examine boredom closely, it will dawn on us that during those so-called 'boring' times we consider everything we do then as a waste of time, and sometimes get the feeling that time is just not moving ahead. So boredom sets in due to our inability to use the present moment.  I believe that those who often suffer from boredom are people who fail to see the future as beautiful.

So, instead of worrying about the future and being anxious about it, why not create the future with our dreams. I think it will be a good feeling to imagine good things happening to us in the future. Let us imagine ourselves visiting beautiful places on this planet, let us imagine winning a lottery, or let us imagine becoming famous!!!. It is always a good feeling when we think we are capable of doing many things for others. There is no end to all the beautiful things we can create about the future and go for it rather than feel anxious and remain worried.

Every time an anxious or scary thought comes in, let us try and replace it with our dreams of what we want our future to look like. Age or any present drawbacks should not be an obstacle. Let us practice rejecting all negative thoughts whenever they surface. Our future will be result of the choices we make today and those choices should not be smeared in doubt or fear, but with enthusiasm.