Our Current Responsibility to Our Future Selves

"Be present” – stop thinking of and living in the future.  “If it feels good, do it”.  “Just enjoy life, you have a right to be happy.” These words are the social rumblings that flow down the streets we live on, through the doors of our lives influencing our psyche and guiding how we choose to live. On their own these words are attractive and liberating but in context these words carry a certain recklessness and carelessness.

  

No one turns 65 years of age and expects to receive a pension without having paid into a pension fund or becomes ill and expects employment insurance to pay them an income while they recover, if they have not contributed to EI. For these benefits to be available and accessible requires that at one time the individual seeking compensation responsibly contributed to these funds. This individual invested in his future self.

I often encounter individuals at a particular spot in their lives dealing with disappointment, self-doubt and a deep sense of sadness and loss that they are not where they had hoped to be at this stage of their lives. On taking inventory of their lives and journeys it becomes apparent they did not live responsibly with their future selves in mind. Some are financially bankrupt impulsively going after what they wanted and not what they needed. Others are relationally bankrupt having used up their sexuality as currency and are at a time in their lives where they desire meaningful relationship and connection, but are unable to secure it.

Previous generations may bear the legacy of working hard, being future focused, and fearing lack that they did not live present and available lives to their families. Today we have to ask ourselves how far this pendulum has swung and how far out of balance we are? When we enter our future selves are we going to find provision or will we enter a season of bankruptcy where we are searching for value and meaning because we only lived in the moment.  

There are so many social trends these days that living responsively to them can cause the most stable among us to become destabilized and unanchored. Just because it is a trend does not mean that it is right. I encourage you to stop and think about your present responsibility to your future self. Goofing off at school or university is not being responsible to your future self, eating without self-control will have future health consequence, a lack of activity will impact your physical strength and endurance and living un-conscientiously and dis-invested in your mental and emotional health will find you reaching for something that does not exist when you enter your future. 

Sow to where you are going. Invest daily in your everyday day choices towards your future self. Deposit in yourself today the self-respect, integrity and value you wish to have.  Don’t take your health, your sexuality, and your abilities for granted. Make conscious current investments that will bear dividends for your future self because, it is known that we cannot draw out of someone else’s account without getting into trouble …that is for another blog :)

Go ahead live responsibly today with your tomorrow in mind - "Out of sight out of mind."