A couple of weeks ago I had a chat with my pal Cormac about our internships, summer plans, future plans to run away together and spend our lives sailing the pacific, and life in general. Cormac is interning at the White House this semester, and I am also having the most meaningful internship experience I've had to date. But as we were talking, we noticed that we consistently talked about the future as if it is so much brighter than the lives we are leading now. Whether it was with our upcoming summer internships, grad school, getting lost at sea, or our future careers, we recognized that we have terrible habits of only looking forward instead of appreciating and making the most of the incredible things we are spending our time on here and now.
I realize that constantly trying to figure out next steps in life and maintaining boundless optimism for the future are all part of the normal college experience. But one lesson I'm starting to learn is that if I am always looking forward, it becomes extremely difficult to stay focused on the things I need to work on now to actually achieve those future goals. Even worse, the future orientation creates a major distraction from appreciating and finding satisfaction with where I am in life here and now.
So here's my WAIP advice in a nutshell:
Take a step back. Recognize that you're doing some damn cool things with your life right now. Spend less time worrying about what's coming next, and more time worrying about what you're doing today.
Adam White
No comments:
Post a Comment