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Last updated October, 2018. note: we link to our free guide to mindfulness and meditation at the bottom of the page (no email required).  Is your mind postponing happiness and keeping you out of the present moment? Are you looking to the future to solve all of your problems? Does this describe you: “I’ll be happy when 'this' or 'that' happens.” “This" or "that” can be an event: a promotion, a new job, a new house, a new car, a new toy. “This" or "that” can be a person: getting a new boss, gaining a new friend, finding a new lover. Or, getting rid of a current boss, friend, or lover! “This" or "that” might be when your favorite sports team wins the big game. Or when your political party of choice is in office. Or, the political party you dislike is out of office! It might be when the economy improves, the holidays arrive, the children go back to school, or summer vacation rolls around. Regardless of what “this" or "that” is, postponing your happiness until something happens in the future is a trap of the mind. The trap is, you will never find happiness because when the future arrives, there will always be something else you need to obtain or attain. It's a never-ending cycle that keeps you constantly chasing happiness. Your mind is never content with the present moment, so it perpetuates this trap. It compulsively projects you into the future, to a time it perceives will be better than now; you dream about this magical moment when everything is perfect and you can finally be happy. The mind also pulls you into the past to relive your mistakes and failures, and regret what you have (or haven’t) done; you often dwell on how unhappy you are and all the mind-made reasons why. As the mind pushes you into the future and pulls you into the past, it strategically keeps you out of the only time you can actually live: the present moment. But, you can become aware of what your mind is doing. You can become aware of the thoughts and emotions as they happen. Your goal isn't to stop them. Rather, through awareness, you learn not to get caught up in them. As a result, the mind-made fear, drama, and turmoil loses its grip on you. And, you learn to stop seeking happiness "in the future." Happiness starts right now. Don’t make it dependent on something else happening first, or you will never achieve it. Stop dealing with the symptoms.Stress, anxiety, self-confidence issues, the inability to stop bad habits, problems with sleep and focus, and on and on and on.
These and the other things we struggle with every day are only symptoms. The good news is, they all share the same root cause. The bad news is, if you don't address that root cause, the symptoms will keep coming back no matter what you do. That's why we wrote "An owner's guide to the mind." For almost 20 years, people have been using it to address the root cause of their daily struggles. Click here to view the contents and learn more. Comments are closed.
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