PEOPLE sometimes try to live in a place and time created by their minds, motivated by their dreams that are about to happen anytime soon. In reality, these place and time are not yet there and as a result, these people live in a different realm. Their minds are set in the future so they find it hard to adapt to the daily occurrences of life. Until this future arrives, the meaning of life is difficult to comprehend. If there are judges for this state of mind, I may have been found guilty numerous times.
Dreams serve as motivation. They give us direction to our destination but they should not take away the significance of the present. I am a teacher but whether I accept it or not, there are times when I think I am not. Like others who fall to this illusion, I might not exert the effort expected of a good teacher. I am a wanderer, not physically but rather mentally, and as one I am often seduced by the high moments of other professions. This I presumed is triggered by the negative things I encounter in my work and romanticism of other jobs. I might as well embrace the life of a teacher. This will certainly serve me well. Teaching is a noble job but unless an education graduate like me commits himself/herself to teaching, the educator will never search the fulfillment of this work. How can a teacher for instance enjoy simple school celebration when in those moments his/her mind is drifting somewhere far?
If our sights are locked straight ahead we will never see things happening around or even beside us. Horses that are used in pulling carriages often wear blinders or blinkers. This prevents them from seeing things behind and beside them. We become like them. We will only try to understand how it feels to be in that future, how it feels to attain our dream stored in that far away time. The things going on around us become insignificant and that’s when problems arise because it is the very reality that we ignore. We devalue even people in the present because we think they are not part of the life we have imagined ahead. It is difficult to appreciate the beauty of the day when one is always anticipating the coming of the night. How can one feel the pride of being a teacher when he/she imagines himself/herself in an office not in a classroom?
Let me try to apply this on the concept of happiness. A lot of people fail to feel happy especially when we are economically poor because we think that only wealth or money can bring us true happiness. We show little appreciation to blessings that come our way because we wait for that time when we have a good deal of money. That for us will be the right time to burst into a hearty laugh. Happiness can be found even in the simplest things we see, hear, and do. The hugs of our children, the greetings of our students, or the sight of our three year old daughter dancing are sources of genuine happiness but if we have already put happiness in the future that can only be felt through the fulfillment of our dreams, happiness will always be out of reach, a part of the future, a thing of tomorrow and never of today.
There are other things that we want to gain. We want a bigger house to live or a higher salary for our job. We hate to go home because we are not comfortable with the small apartment we rent. We feel unhappy on payday instead of feeling good because we wanted a bigger pay. This is because we try to live in our imagination living in a bigger house and having a higher pay. There is always frustration because we place ourselves in a place and time that are yet to come or that may never come. Why not enjoy the things we have now? This applies to everything, to our career, possessions, and even people. We can never build a good and healthy relationship with other people if we are always looking ahead. We cannot appreciate the things they do for us and their companionship because the future is the only thing that matters.
Living in the moment is accepting who and what we are today. It is looking at the bright side of the things we do, our job, and of the people we are with. It is appreciating the wonder of the present moment, appreciating the experiences of our day to day existence. We go to work with a sense of pride and fulfillment because this work is already a part of us. Even if we leave this work in the future it is still fragment of our identity that must not be ignored. So we commit to it. We cannot wait for the future to reveal who we truly are. The past and future will certainly speak something about us but life is always live in the present. Happiness always lies in the present.