Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Victorious Living

Home
Family, Parenting and Religion
The Motivation of An Imagined Future

The Motivation of An Imagined Future

Last updated on: January 12, 2021 at 5:00 am by Victorious Living

The Motivation of An Imagined Future 2020-11-11T15:04:32-05:00 Victorious Living

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I don’t really like time travel movies. It feels like they don’t really work through the true repercussions of being able to travel through time. They usually hone in on one consequence they want to erase and ignore, or half-heartedly explain away, the can of worms time travel would open.

Thinking about this recently, I realized that we are all time travelers. We are traveling pretty slowly and consistently through time, but traveling nonetheless. None of us are truly paused in time.

But even more than that, I could be classified as a time-traveler because I am very rarely truly living in the present. What I mean is this: I am most motivated by an imagined future. Afraid of what could go awry. Hopeful of what could go well. I am looking forward to or dreading something that has yet to happen (and may not happen at all).

Imagined Futures

We can’t help this, to some degree. Like I said, we are time-travelers and one minute is leading to the next, one decision causing a consequence and inviting another decision.

I am usually thinking six decisions ahead of myself. I am imagining a happily-ever-after or a doomsday. I imagine big grand moments and vacations we haven’t even begun to plan yet. I imagine getting fired or yelled at or generally disliked by someone. I imagine saying or doing the wrong thing, not following through on something. I imagine wild success, fame, riches, and influence.

And all of this imagining is more than just a mental exercise. It is more than just fun and games.

My imagined future shapes the decisions I make today. My choices come from fear of one imagined future or hope of another.

In The Present

The problem with this is that I often face unforeseen consequences of my choices because a) I am giving them too much weight – expecting one choice to be defining or b) I give them too little weight – not seeing their significance and impact on today, treating them as flippant or insignificant to my imagined future.

The other danger of this is that I am not making choices based on reality. I am making choices about what I expect reality to be somewhere down the line. I guess this can be helpful in some ways. But it can also be detrimental. Because the hard truth is that most of my imagined futures do not come to pass. As one present melds into another, things rarely work out exactly how I imagined. In fact, things usually work out in a completely bizarre way that is not only not what I expect, but something literally beyond my imagination.

The unintentional result is that I rarely see, choose, or internalize moments for what they are worth. I strip them down and remake them. I sift through them and sort them according to a reality that has not and likely will not come to pass.

Of course, being motivated by an imagined future is not all bad. In fact, it is just the way we are. We can’t help it. And if we swung too far the other way, it would lead to confusion and chaos because we would not have the consistency of a hoped-for future to thread through our decisions.

But we must be careful.

The key, I believe, is balance. Making decisions based on values rather than circumstantial hypothesis. Making decisions based on character rather than fear or superficial hope. Filling the present with gratitude even as we traverse time towards a future full of surprises.

Previous Post

January 7, 2021

Why More Really is the Answer

Next Post

January 14, 2021 Long Live The Dream

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Choices Conflict Resolution Culture Change Emotions Failure Faith Fear Freedom V Growth Healthy Communication Hope Identity Influence Leadership Learn Mistakes Mood Curve Ownership Perspective Power Relationships Self-Awareness Self-Governance Systems Thinking Three Things You Control Transformational Leadership Trust Truth Uncategorized Values Vision

Select a Month January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I am a bush that burned but was not consumed, from which God spoke to Moses. What am I?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Pillar of fire Ark of the Covenant The burning bush A holy fire

Books by This Author Books by Victorious Living

See All Titles »