The present is, of course, a preparation for the future; but if it’s not appreciated for what it is, one squanders life away, always ahead of one’s self, looking for the arrival of some “starting line” where “real life” will begin.
This is real life. No external gate-keeper, success, or validation will suddenly change that. The attitude is internal. The only way to change is to will it. Otherwise the present will always be merely ashes cooling in one’s mouth, as we wait for something better.
Something better will never be good enough. The reality will never “live up” to the disjointed fantasies we hold ourselves hostage to.
Julia Childe's husband Paul had it right – at least as Stanley Tucci played him, “I don’t know what will happen Dear, but we’ll deal with it!”
The only joy available to us is in the moment. It can’t be prolonged, it can’t be wished into being. It must be caught and savored with humility and gratitude as it happens.
It too shall pass. This is a gift to get us through the “bad times.” It is also a gift to lead us to appreciate the good. The “stability” we crave would smother us if it were ever to arrive. Our inability to see past that would kill us before we die.