Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.
This is a great quote. It’s been attributed to everyone from an ancient turtle in Kung Fu Panda to America’s former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Whoever said it first really seemed to capture the importance of living in the moment.
Being fully present in what is happening right now is something of a worldwide trend. Almost everywhere you look someone is telling you to let go of the past, not worry about the future and just embrace today. On the whole that’s great advice. You can’t change your past, no matter how much you’d like to and tomorrow isn’t promised to any of us, so making the most of the day you are living is more than just a good idea. But what happens if tomorrow does happen (as I hope for all of us it that it does) and you’re not ready for it?
President Benjamin Franklin once said:
If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail
Let’s be honest no one wants to be a failure and not achieve anything in life. We all want to succeed and make the most of all the time we are given, not just the one day that we happen to be living right now. To do that, however, you must have a plan and that means thinking about more than just the moment, but also about tomorrow and the day after that and so on.
Be intentional
It sounds terribly romantic and calm but meandering through life without any thought about your ideal outcomes or goals is rarely going to take you where you want to be. Setting a course for your future days shouldn’t take all your focus away from the present but it will help you to map a course towards the reality that you would like your future present days to look like. If you just continue through life without any direction or purpose your ‘now’ moments in the future may not be moments that you want to be present in.
Don’t worry
The bible tells us not to worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will have enough worries of its own. Very often when we say don’t focus on the future what we really mean is don’t worry about it, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t plan for it. There is a huge difference between worrying about something that you can’t control or that may never happen and planning towards a preferred future.
Look don’t stare
It’s one thing to look forward and plot a course for the future it’s another thing to place all your attention on the days to come and dwell there. Look forward and plan. Make decisions that will impact favourably on your tomorrows but don’t get so caught up in where you want to go that you fail to appreciate where you are. Set aside time to plan for the future but when that’s done, remember to return to today and enjoy your now experience. As with many things, balance is important.
And after tomorrow
“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit,” whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? It is just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”
The bible reminds us that as much as we plan, our future is not promised. Tomorrow may never come for some of us and to a large extent we have no control over that, but that doesn’t mean that we have no say at all. Scripture tells us that God has placed a sense of eternity in the heart of every man and woman. We know that there is something beyond this life. Even if we don’t wake to see tomorrow we can plan for it because our existence doesn’t end when we take our last breath.
When Jesus was crucified there was a man on a cross next to him who asked to be remembered when Jesus entered heaven. Jesus told the man “Don’t worry. Today you will be with me in paradise”. The same privilege is extended to you and I. If we make the choice today to acknowledge our need of Jesus, we not only find fulfilment in this life but also a promise of eternity with Him in the next.