How much of you is in the future?

You don’t need to have a word of the year (unless you want to)

Photo by Drew Beamer on Unsplash

“Every part of your energy field is in the future.” – Laura Smyth

This line from Laura Smyth on the Bang On It podcast co-hosted with fellow comedian/writer/actor Michelle De Swarte made me cackle. 

During a conversation between Laura and Michelle about what they’d been doing recently to take care of themselves, Laura explained that she’d been seeing a cranial osteopath. During one of her first appointments she’d told Laura exactly this – that every part of her energy field was in the future. The cranial osteopath added that was like everything with Laura was two or three paces ahead – as though everything was existing a month or two ahead of the present. It turned out to be a very accurate assessment of Laura’s life at the time. 

How many of us do this? How much of you is in the future? 

It’s January. That means it’s the time of new years resolutions, though I hear that this year the trend is ‘in and out’ lists.

I’m not one for resolutions and no, I don’t have a word of the year either.

A degree of planning for the future is necessary and sensible – for instance, I am all for doing things your future self / loved ones / fellow beings would thank you for – but not at the expense of being present with what is right now. I don’t want my mind to constantly be in the future, always two or three paces ahead. That way restlessness lies.

Maybe it depends what part of the world you’re in, but here in the northern hemisphere where January is usually a cold, dark and long month, it feels like the wrong time to be launching onto big goals. From a seasonal perspective, winter is a time of self-reflection and restoration. For me, it’s March that is the true start of the year. Partly it’s because that’s my birthday month and I like to acknowledge that I’ve been here for another year, but also because it marks the early days of Spring, the season of renewal and rebirth. 

For me, being in the now includes acknowledging and accepting the season that I’m in, whether that’s the seasons of the year or this particular season of my life. When I have the courage to do this, I find it brings clarity and steadiness. When my mind is too much in the future, it’s usually tied to disquiet, agitation and a false sense of control.

One of the many sayings my Mum used to repeat when I was growing up was, “Man plans and God alters.” It annoyed the hell out of me, of course. But as time passes, I appreciate the truth behind such sayings. I’m not suggesting that you or I shouldn’t have plans and goals. It’s more of a reminder to not forget that we are here now. The future isn’t guaranteed, yet if we are here a year from today, we will have undoubtedly experienced joy, sadness, serendipity, pain, victories, curveballs and everything in between. Because if you get to be here long enough, you know that this is life.

If we are still here a year from today, hopefully we’ll have been kinder to ourselves and each other.

Hopefully we’ll remember (or wake up to) the fact that we aren’t separate from each other.

Hopefully we’ll have advocated for those who can’t advocate for themselves.

Hopefully we’ll have become better humans.

Hopefully we’ll have lived more fully.

Living more fully isn’t dependent on grand plans for the future. When I look back over the past year, the fullness was formed from lots of little moments in the everyday, and choices made in those moments. 

In my book, there’s a section called ‘starting the day on the right foot’ where I suggest that before you get out of bed you ask yourself:

How would I like to feel today?

I offer this question here for you to consider now. 

Maybe you have a word of the year or maybe you don’t. 

Maybe you have a word of the day. 

A word of the morning.

A word of the hour.

A word of the moment.

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In the spirit of winter restoration, I’m giving myself a slower start to the year, so my monthly in-person restorative yoga offering is on hiatus in January. You can join me for the next Rest + Restore on Friday 9^th February.  Details and a booking link can be found on the ‘workshops & events’ page of the Embody Wellness website here.

You can also still find me on Wednesday mornings 9.30-10.30 at Yoga Point in Brixton for Hatha Flow.

Not able to join me in-person? For restorative yoga, yin yoga and meditation find my monthly editions of The Reset and A Peaceful Pause here on Substack.

And there are on-demand classes with Mindwalk Yoga and Ekhart Yoga too.