“Hope for the moment. There are times when it is hard to believe in the future, when we are temporarily just not brave enough. When this happens, concentrate on the present. Cultivate le petit bonheur (the little happiness) until courage returns. Look forward to the beauty of the next moment, the next hour, the promise of a good meal, sleep, a book, a movie, the likelihood that tonight the stars will shine and tomorrow the sun will shine. Sink roots into the present until the strength grows to think about tomorrow.”
~ Ardis Whitman
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I like how this recognizes that people sometimes just can’t look positively at the future…. but what if your present is just as bleak as your future?
I thought of that too as I posted it. This quote is certainly not a help for everyone. I know that when my future looks bleak, even a future as close as tomorrow, it tends to weigh down my present (naturally). If I am able to isolate my present experience from what is (potentially) coming, it lightens that weight, and if I can find and focus on some small good in the present moment–a postponement rather than a denial of the bleakness–I can even feel a brief though superficial joy. I’m sure that is not possible at all times or for everyone. May you find some solace in your own experience.