BY KLAUS DÖRING
MINDFULNESS is all the rage these days, and for good reason. Focusing on the moment can improve our well-being, foster compassion, and help our relationships.
What about going beyond the present moment?
Yes, thinking about the future can trigger anxiety — but a growing body of research suggests that it can also make our lives more meaningful.
Humans aren’t alone in having some ability to consider the future, a process that scientists call “prospection.” After all, your dog gets excited when they see you holding a leash because they anticipate a walk is imminent; your cat may show similar excitement at the sound of a can being opened. There’s even evidence that some animals — like bonobos and ravens — can choose and save tools that they plan to use in the future.
But prospector’s unique benefits to humans extend beyond that of other animals. Not only do we fantasize about our next vacation or decide whether it would be better to take the stairs or the elevator, but our perspective can cast far into the future: We might save for our children’s education or plan for our retirement decades from now. We can make predictions about our own futures based on what we’ve learned about other people’s experiences and even from characters in books and movies. And we can consider multiple directions our futures might take.
It is this remarkable ability to simulate our possible futures that makes prospection special. Just like gold prospecting may literally make you rich, studies suggest that prospecting about your future can enrich your life in at least four ways.
It makes sense that having positive expectations — optimism, essentially — could increase our ability to achieve our goals, but why might fantasizing about the future actually decrease the chance of achieving what we want? Because, write Oettingen and Klaus Michel Reininger, positive fantasies “lead people to mentally enjoy the desired future in the here and now, and thus curb investment and future success.”
But often our goals come from our fantasies. We want to excel at work, find Mr. or Mrs. Right, or run a marathon. How do we turn these fantasies into behaviors that can help us reach our goals?
Research suggests that while optimism is important, it is also helpful to draw a contrast between our fantasies and our current reality, which allows us to see barriers that must be overcome.
The German poet Rainer Maria Rilke put it well: “Life is not even close to being as logically consistent as our worries; it has many more unexpected ideas and many more facts than we do.” Worrying is pointless not only because it rarely makes things better, but also because you’re rarely ever worried about the right thing!
We hardly count our blessings. We enjoy counting our crosses. Instead of gains, we count our losses. We don’t have to do all that counting – computers do it for us. Information is easily had.
Facebook to and fro, back and forth, there and back – how many posts and comments have been posted already with sadness, loneliness, boredom strikes, problems, worries.
Just remember this: Opportunity doesn’t just knock – it jiggles the doorknob. And “your social media online-friend” – the worrier – is with you day and night, at every corner, following your every step. Complaining and grumbling are good excuses, right?
Seniors may experience more anxiety-inducing situations than younger adults, and they may not have as many resources for support. Some people may notice that their anxious thoughts get stronger or more frequent with age, but anxiety is a treatable mental health disorder.
The whole world is an awful place filled with dreadful and horrible negativism. Yes, I confess, I’m also surrounded by many worriers who put their fears into me. Politicians, i.e., many times love to search for some grave alarm that will cause individuals to abandon their separate concerns and act in concert, so that politicians can wield the baton. Calls to fatal struggles and fights are forever being sounded.
Well, when will we start counting our courage and not our fears, or enjoy instead of our woe? Worrying itself is pointless. Of course, no society has achieved perfect rules of law, never-ending education or unique responsible governments. Let’s seek out the worries but avoid the warriors, because they try to avoid liberty.
Worry, that sense of insecurity, unease, and fear over what negative events may happen – as unrealistic as these concerns may be – is one of the most unpleasant emotions that you can experience as a human being. It is also one of the most common. While everyone has worried at some point, many people suffer from chronic worrying in the form of anxiety. In Australia alone, 2 million people will suffer from anxiety in any one year.
If you worry often, you’re far from alone. In fact, it may comfort you to know that many of us tend to worry about the same issues. All of those anxieties and stressors that may plague your life also affect a huge chunk of the rest of the world as well.
Melanie Greenberg, Ph.D., is a practicing psychologist, author, speaker, and life/business coach, with more than 20 years of experience as a clinician, professor, and researcher. She says: “One of the most helpful things you can do instead of worrying is problem-solving. Problem-solving means defining the problem in a way that you can do something about it (e.g., “How do I prepare for a possible loss of income?” or “How can I learn to accept that my ex has moved on?”). Once you have a defined problem, you can generate some possible solutions and think through the likely consequences of each (e.g., “What is most likely to happen if I do X?”). Finally, you can implement your favorite solution, whether it involves taking action, discussing the situation, finding out more information, or working to accept something you cannot change.”
If you are still worrying right now about something, try to read Jeremiah 29:10-14 or Revelation 21:1-8, just to mention these two. It works.
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