The other day I was
talking to my dear friend Sarah and we were discussing A) The craziness and
busyness of lives and B) Our desire to know what will happen to us in the near
future. This conversation caused me to
think more deeply about my life right now and everything that’s been
happening. Despite my uncanny ability to
juggle school, work, friendships, family, and pre-professional activities, I
find myself constantly wishing for the future.
I keep telling myself, perhaps unconsciously, that one day I will have
it all together. “I can’t wait until
next year. Senior year is going to be
great!” Or “I can’t wait until
graduation. Then I will have so much
less stress than I do now!” Or “Oh, I will have so much more time for this
after I finish my undergrad. I can’t
wait for that.” But what a second. Wait.
One. Second.
Why do I keep telling
myself that the future will be better than life now? Why can’t I just enjoy life as it is now and
stop wishing that the present would hurry along? I want to be present in the here and
now. I want to be present in everything
I do today, and tomorrow, and this week.
While the future seems more exciting than what I am dealing with now, I
don’t want my desire for the future to prevent me from being present in daily
life. It sounds cliché, “carpe diem” and
all that… But I truly believe that God
is trying to teach me to slow down the daily grind and be content knowing that
I am part of a grand process in which He is refining me and preparing me to
handle whatever is next.
Now, I’m not endorsing the
“YOLO” philosophy, but I do think there is something valuable about an
individual who is unafraid to take risks and who loves to wake up every day
ready to face the challenges of the present.
Lately I feel like I’ve been backing down from the present, like it’s a
force to which I must blindly submit and then hope for the best. But that’s not how it should be. I can and will move through the present with
grace and power. Not everything is in my
control, of course, but I can take charge of my life and have an abundant life
in the present. Instead of longing for a
different period in my life, some distant (or near) future where I am more
comfortable, I need to love my life now.
If you think this
sounds too idealistic, you are right. I’ve
always been a perfectionist, and maybe that is reflected in this post a bit too
much. Honestly, I think this idea of
enjoying and living in the present all comes down to one little word: joy. Joy is necessary for me to be content with where I am in life instead of longing for the future. I often wonder, to quote the freaking-wonderful-genius
and my idol C.S. Lewis, if “all pleasures are not substitutes for joy.” I spend so much of my time grasping at silly passing
whims instead of pursuing the ineffable joy that is being in relationship with
my Creator in an intimate way. The life
of a Christ-follower must be saturated with the truth of the Word and filled
with the abundance of daily conversation with Him. If this isn't the sole source of true joy, I don't know what is.
Father, forgive me for
neglecting our relationship. You came
that your church could have life and live it to the fullest (John 10:10). Please let me have this fullness of life
through daily communion with You. Let me
live in the present, in order to make Your name known in the present.
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| This man is YOLOing. |
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