03 Dec Focus on a future event removes our attention from this moment

Every year advent calendars help us countdown the days until Christmas. It’s a fun way to look forward to the holidays for children and adults alike. However, this countdown mentality isn’t just a festive activity, but a daily occurrence throughout our lives, with watches, alarms, countdown apps and calendar reminders. How often do you find yourself counting down the days to a holiday, the hours to the end of a working day, or the minutes leading up to an important call or meeting? Clock watching is systemic in our culture with an emphasis on goals, deadlines and punctuality. There is definitely a need for it, as it helps us get things done and coordinate, but we should remember moderation.

Focus on a future event removes our attention from this moment. If your mind is off living in the future, who’s living your life here and now? It is quite common for our minds to wonder as we drive, sometimes fearing or fantasising about the future. In these moments of distraction we are not just vulnerable to risks on the road, but we also miss the finer details of life that make it so great to be alive. Instead of spending our drives, and our lives, mentally living out some future reality that may or may not come to be, we can focus on living the life we actually have. Be aware of the subtleties of the world around you that may otherwise be missed. Experience your life as fully as possible and know that without you these sounds would go unheard, these sights would go unseen and this World would go unnoticed.