Self

Dream Of The Now: Stop Letting Your Future Hinder Your Present

Photo: Elizaveta Shishova / Shutterstock
woman sitting outside

By Rachel Dedinsky

There comes a point in time when you decide on what you want your life to look like.

The car, the house, the school, the fine details like how you will get proposed to, and the types of wine you want in your wine rack. Some may even have what types of tinsel they want their Christmas trees to have down to a science.

However, there also comes a time when we may ask ourselves this question: Am I putting too much pressure on the now to be the future?

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I am a planner. By nature, I am the girl who carries what seems like 140-day planners, her bag weighs 1,000 tons and needs to have a set schedule for everything. I have the job in mind, the company and the type of leader I would be in the workplace.

This may seem like an effective way to live one’s life, but this is not always the case.

You see, it is wonderful to be organized, attentive and proactive for that matter, but having this perfect image that you must live up to in your mind can add a lot of pressure to a not-so-stressful situation.

Think of it this way. Here is the situation: you have a job interview tomorrow. Easy. Read, be prepared, know the company, dress nice and be yourself. Right?

Well, the mind of the avid planner and the daydreamer who wants their dream to happen today, that interview is the gateway to either the start of your life or complete and utter failure.

How about if he doesn’t like the hue of green my blazer is? How about if I accidentally don’t blink for five minutes and then she will think I have some kind of weird eye disorder?

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The “what if’s” can trickle into your mind and create a fog of overthinking and over-planning that leads to dramatic conclusions.

The thoughts of your one big dream being potentially crushed by your own doing surround your mind. And normally, we tend to cave into these ideas of inability and despair, but we simply cannot.

When you get worked up and you think that your life is going to be over because you accidentally used the word "like" ten times in the last three sentences, take a deep breath and remember: you are doing just fine.

Everyone has their own path, and as winding and misleading as it may seem at times, it will get you to where you are supposed to be.

Take a step back, and remember who you are and what makes you personable and unique. Remember that no matter what grade you just got, what that silly boy just said, or what thing you’re getting worked up about, know that you are going to be okay and that you are on your own journey.

Everyone has a title in mind of what they want to be.

Doctor, writer, YouTuber, singer — whatever the case may be, don't let the weight of what you want to be overshadow the who you are now, you will get there, just be patient.

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Rachel Dedinsky is a writer and former contributor to Unwritten whose work focuses on self-improvement and lifestyle topics. Visit her author profile for more.

This article was originally published at Unwritten. Reprinted with permission from the author.