It's amazing what you can learn from a devil. C.S. Lewis's brilliant The Screwtape Letters (basically a devil's guide to tempting humans) offers the following insight.
We want a whole race perpetually in pursuit of the rainbow's end, never honest, nor kind, nor happy now, but always using as mere fuel wherewith to heap the altar of the future every real gift which is offered in the Present.
For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity. Of the present moment, and of it only, humans have an experience analogous to the experience which [God] has of reality as a whole; in it alone freedom and actuality are offered to them.
Allow me to describe an experience by which my mother taught me this principle and two practices I actively maintain in order to enjoy the gift of the present.
I'll never forget the anxiety I experienced surrounding the purchase of my first smart phone. You see, my parents raised me to be responsible with money, and I certainly didn't need a smart phone. The year was 2009. I was a college student in a time when (gasp) smart phones were still a thing for nerds with rich parents. Not many of my peers had them, and I felt ridiculous for wanting one. I called my mom, expecting to talk me out of it, but her advice surprised me.
"Do you want the phone?" she asked.
"Well, yeah..."
"Do you have the money for it?"
"Yes."
"Just buy the phone! It's OK to buy things that you want sometimes."
I bought the phone. And I loved it. Not only did it satisfy my hunger for technology, but it proved a useful tool. The ability to check email from my pocket, as opposed to from a campus computer, allowed me to respond to some first come, first serve opportunities that greatly shaped my education.
While it is not necessary or healthy to buy or do all the things we want just because we can afford them, there is some wisdom in occasionally doing so. I am glad I bought the phone then instead of waiting until I was more established. It's easy to put something off until you are "ready." Live in the now. Do not be perpetually in pursuit of the rainbow's end. Enjoy the view!
I love taking photographs. Part of me believes I convinced my parents to give me a digital camera for Christmas by constantly using up their rolls of film on rocks, flowers, and other subjects that my mom categorized as "pictures without people in them."
There are all types of photographers, and I'm the type that uses my mobile phone exclusively, without shame. Yes, I own a low-end digital SLR camera (which was fantastic for learning the principles of photogrpahy, btw). But there is one principle of photography I find trumps all others, even principles of good exposure. Opportunity. Take the picture when you see it. And nothing enables you to do so like having a camera in your pocket.
Ironically, photographing the moment sometimes causes me to miss truly enjoying the moment. Therefore, I have instated a rule: if a thing is worth stopping to photograph, it is worth enjoying with my eyes, not just through a screen or viewfinder. I go out of my way, after I take a photograph, to put away my phone and give the scene the proper observation and respect it deserves...to enjoy it naturally with my senses.
As C.S. Lewis knew, happiness, honesty, kindness, and beauty are all gifts that we can only enjoy right now, in the present. Don't forget to enjoy them now. Don't forget to be happy. Now.
Tell me about a moment you enjoyed because you "stopped to smell the roses." Have you ever missed an opportunity because you were too focused on the future?