Welcome to the One Word at a Time blog carnival.
This week’s word is: Future
You are welcome to join in either by writing or reading or both. If you write a post on the topic of sacrifice, add your link to the little widget below so we can all find it!
Remember, if you tweet your post or any of the others in the carnival, please use the hashtag #owaat.
Thanks. Enjoy!
My Entry:
Future Thinker
I think about the future… a lot.
It’s part of who I am and how I was made.
I see things and don’t see them as they are, but rather how they could be.
I get excited by possibilities, by change, by creativity.
It drives me, it energizes me, it enthralls me.
The problem is, I’m horrible at what I consider the regular, mundane aspects of life.
Before putting in the new system I installed last year, I had to manually invoice clients for work I did and for renewals of their contracts.
I would often invoice them months late – I was even known to invoice people nine months into a twelve month contract.
That kind of thing just doesn’t interest me, doesn’t excite me and therefore very often doesn’t get done.
The future is exciting. It’s unwritten, unadulterated, unknown.
I love the future.
The problem is, we don’t live in the future. We live in the present.
Spending too much time looking to the future means you can easily miss the wonder and excitement of the present.
It’s my birthday today (as I’m writing this) and looking to the future, this coming year I really want to learn to open my eyes to the present, to BE here in the present and to find a balance between my love of the future and my life in the NOW.
How about you? Do you look to the future so much that you miss the now?
You and I were thinking about a lot of the same things. It may be a function of age – but the older I get, the more I’m beginning to focus more ont he present and less about the future.
Good post, Peter. Thanks for being such a graceful host. And happy birthday.
We often think alike in these things… it’s scary! 🙂
yes — good post and a very Happy Birthday!
I’ll be linking in tomorrow and look forward to coming back to read all the other offerings.
Cheers!
Thanks, Louise!
The Past is Past, Today is His (and yours.) Enjoy the present and what it brings. The Future can also be exciting as we anticipate its unfolding.
🙂
Happy Belated Birthday Peter!
‘They’ say recognizing an issue is half the problem of solving it … you’ve written a great piece about an issue that bugs you, so consider it half solved now.
Enjoy today!
Which half is solved though 🙂
Thanks, Janet!
Peter, I used to spend a lot of time thinking about the future. I would daydream about how something would turn out, but the problem is that I would get disappointed almost every time.
So I asked God to help me get rid of this habit. I think that He allowed me to get disappointed so I would realize this problem I had.
I’ve been improving lately, thanks to Him. What I do now is I try to focus on His word and His promises and trust Him that He will take care of the future.
BTW, I hope you had a wonderful birthday, may God bless you with many more wonderful birthdays in the future.
Thanks, Cris.
I’m glad you’re seeing improvement. GOD IS GOOD!
Peter, I often live in either the future or the past, and fail to fully take care of the now or appreciate it.
But looking forward is what keeps you moving through the present …
“looking forward is what keeps you moving through the present …”
Very true! We just need to find balance between looking to the future and actually seeing what the future has brought us 🙂
I think I mostly live in the present. The future gets a bit overwhelming when I dwell on it too much.
I find that about the present.
I can narrow down the future and just think about certain aspects of it, but the present is HUGE and complicated!
I’m fairly future-oriented too. At least it’s easier than being too past-oriented? {smile} But I need to stay more in the present… Thanks, for your words, Peter. Hope you had a great birthday!
Thanks, Lisa.
I hope you had a great my birthday too!
good post, Peter.
i was told by a friend that some people are future thinkers. i think my husband is one of those. before i speak to him, i have to get his attention and bring him into the present.
i think my thing lately is mainly is seeing the presence of God in my way of relationship. also, being present and available in a way of sensing those around me in paying attention to them if they speak to me.
i don’t think that was clear, i meant, seeing the presence of God as he makes His presence available to me, as a way of relationship with Him.
First off, happy late birthday, Peter! Second, yeah, there is always a temptation to ‘escape’ to the future when the present seems lesser for any reason. God holds it all in His hands and helps us get from here to there in this life. Great word, Peter. Thank you.
Practicing presence. This is the only moment we really have. What a pity when we miss it.
I hope your birthday provided lots of opportunities to practice presence AND to practice presents. 🙂
(Okay, that was totally cheesy. But I’m posting it anyway.)
Happy Birthday, Peter!
The present is challenge to live by faith. I always feel refreshed your words.
I suppose I have spent much of my life daydreaming about tomorrow…