Fear of future: A bird in hand is worth two in the bush

No shoddy short cuts please!

Fear of future and insecurity drive us to do ‘Shoddy Short Cuts’. The future is not real. One of the biggest stumbling blocks to living a full life is to spend a huge amount of time worrying and thinking about the future. We fear an unknown future which makes it impossible to live today. This is especially true for those dreaming for themselves. Fear of the future can be overwhelming; in fact fear can easily push us towards easy shoddy short cuts because all the time we are haunted by

What if - I fail?

What if - no customers show up?

What if I run out of money?

What if I do not have kids?

What if? …

The cure for fear of the future is to keep reminding oneself to live in the present moment as much as possible. To fully focus and keep our senses on what is happening right now. The present moment in our life is a reality and a valuable gift to us from the time we came in to this world and to our existence. The present needs to be appreciated, caressed and cared for. It is possible to break this vicious cycle of fear based on unreal projections, speculation of worst situations and scenarios of things that might happen.

Who can do the thinking of current moment?

That is you!

Be aware what is happening to you.

The fear of future keeps us trapped in time - it dwells on the past or future. As long as our attention is in the past or future, we are not experiencing things as they are, we are seeing them through the results of the past and our fears for the future. At times we can be so caught up in our self imagination about future and the scenarios and skit plays that we fail to even notice the present. We fear the unknown for the dangers it may bring. We fear uncertainty not knowing whether or not we will find what we are after this moment is all that exists. This fleeting instant is the only reality. The past is gone forever the future is not yet born and remains to be seen.

A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd. He must first make a solitary decision. He cannot drift along with the crowd, nor can he pay attention to the crowd’s response to his leading. He must remain focused, and be willing to stand alone. He must give himself to the few who are cooperating with him not the masses, who are looking on. Finally, even if he yearns for the crowd’s applause, that cannot be his goal. His goal must be to lead his orchestra without any fear.

It is the inner voice within our heads that comments, often critically, on everything we do. It thinks, ‘I did that well, people will approve of me’, or ‘If only I had said it differently about my love she would not have got upset’. It is the voice that speculates on the future, ‘Should I make that telephone call...what if...?’ It wonders what other people are thinking and how they will react. It is the voice of fear, the voice of the ego-mind - the part of us that believes that only through what happens to us in the world around can we be at peace within.