The future — sometimes we fear it, like the monsters we were once convinced lived under our beds. Other times, we embrace it in full, with such an acute exhilaration for all we have to look forward to that we are forgetting one simple question: what about NOW?
Since my high school days, I have always looked ahead to the next chapter of life. I couldn’t wait to start anew at a college states away from where I grew up, and where I knew absolutely no one. Shortly, before graduating college, I developed an eagerness to escape the Midwest and follow my heart, all the way to the Big Apple.
Two years later, happily living in NYC, I am ravenously ruminating over my plans…months in advance, that is: moving in with my boyfriend, making arrangements to visit friends that are scattered across the country, having enough money saved up to accomplish my goals. The list goes on.
I am constantly pondering why I can’t slow my mind down, loosen up, and focus on the present. Sometimes I think it’s because I live in a fast-moving city and feel the need to be one step ahead of myself in every capacity. There is also the unhealthy tendency to compare my path to others, and in turn, the pace at which I achieve all that I want to achieve. On a positive note, however, there’s this innate excitement about the milestones that are on the horizon, anxiously waiting to be fulfilled.
I could make up a litany of excuses for my overactive mental faculties; it doesn’t change the fact that I need to alter my way of thinking. I need to place a greater emphasis on what I currently have in my possession (e.g. a great new job, healthy and happy relationships, a roof over my head), rather than what I am trying to obtain months or years from now. Gratitude for the present will only inch me closer to success with my eventual plans. When the time comes, they will get their chance to shine. But for now, the future can wait.
A special thank you to Poppy Lovers Fashion and J Brand for gifting me with the jacket and jeans, respectively, featured in this post.
Outfit
T-Shirt (similar HERE and HERE): Zara
Jeans (similar HERE ): J Brand
Jacket (similar HERE, HERE, and HERE): Poppy Lovers Fashion
Boots (similar HERE, HERE, and HERE): Topshop
Hat (similar HERE and HERE): Brixton (via Urban Outfitters)
Photography: Jacob Goldberg
Justine says
beautiful writing beautiful pictures
Sami Mauskopf says
Thank you so much, Justine! I hope you are well!
Ami Amour says
love the pink fur coat and the boots! also i like how you talk about living in the now.
❤
ami-amour.com
Sami Mauskopf says
Thank you!! With our minds constantly being pulled in multiple directions, it’s so important to stay present.