There is No Future! Relax, it is Okay.

I was speaking with a friend the other night regarding concerns for the future and he shared some thoughts from Chogam Trungpa Rinpoche (1939-1987). Basically he said that there is no future...and there never has been a future. That stuck with me so profoundly! I do my best to remain in the present and focus on the here and now, but recognizing that the future does not and never has existed helps me to pay attention to where I am now and what I need to deal with today.

Now let me say that this does not mean one should not plan for the future, but we cannot hold too tightly to our future "plans."

The awareness for today is to recognize there never has been a future and that we live in the present. I remember an analogy that I used while in graduate school to describe "being present." Being present is like driving on a dark highway with only your headlights lighting the way shortly in front and behind you; as you keep moving, your lighting (your present) is right there with you.
~Paul