I came across some good advice while reading this week. If you're like me, you spend most of your time thinking about all of the things that are on your " to-do ‚" list and you try to figureout how you're going to do them all. Or, sometimes, I think about things that have already happened. Maybe I messed up my presentation at work or had a fight with my boyfriend. People dwell on these kinds of things all of the time.
The book I was reading made a very good point . If you're constantly thinking about the past or the future, how can you enjoy the present? In other words, you're making yourselfunhappy by stressing out about things that you can't control. At the same time, you're missing what's happening right now.
I know I do this all the time. For instance, I was at the movies this past weekend. I was with my good friend and we were seeing a movie we've had our eye on for weeks. I was looking forward to it and my friend and I were both in a great mood . Then, I saw someone across the theater who looked like my co- worker. It wasn't her but it got me thinking. I thought about the report I had to do on Monday and how much I hated working on it. Then, I thought about my co-worker who wasn't pulling her weight . The more I thought about it, the more angry I got. By the time the movie started, my mood had changed completely. I was stressed out.
Where did all of that thinking and worrying get me? Nowhere. My new resolution is to try to stop obsessing about the past and the future so much, and to just enjoy the here and now .
Script by Dr. Lucy Tse