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The Greener Grass of Tomorrow

Are you always looking for a brighter future? Does it always seem a day away, or even years away?

By Journey ScribePublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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Are you waiting for tomorrow? Does the future look brighter than today? Are you thinking, “When is my life actually going to begin?” or “Maybe things are going to get better later”?

If so, you're not alone in these thoughts. The grass tends to look greener down the road for anyone who holds hope for a brighter future. Looking forward to tomorrow, to opportunity, and to the potential outcomes of your life is a wonderful thing. It’s good to dream! However, in the midst of this wishing and hoping for tomorrow, there’s something very easy to overlook: today.

GIF from The Office

You know why the grass of tomorrow is always greener? Because that’s the grass we spend our time watering. Our thoughts and our efforts in life build toward a brighter future, and we spend so much time daydreaming about it that we lose track of how valuable today can be!

Answer these two questions for me:

What are you looking forward to in the future?

and...

What is today’s reality that’s keeping tomorrow at bay?

Here are some sample answers:

1) I am looking forward to:

a. Finding a job I enjoy

b. To having a significant other whom I’m serious about

c. To live in a house and/or community I care about

2) The reality of today is:

a. I'm not qualified for the career I want yet

b. I can't find romance where I am

c. I'm not happy with the house/community I currently live in

Start watering the grass of today.

Now, examining my answers, how could you start watering today’s grass?

A) I'm not qualified for the career I want yet

So, while you're pursuing qualification for this career, either through college or working other jobs to make that resume more desirable...

What skills could you learn today that would help you in the future and still prove as valuable use of today’s time? Maybe you've always wanted to learn another language, which could prove useful later! A lot of jobs involve technology; you could check out the software a career might prefer you to be proficient in.

What about a social life? What about finding a hobby you enjoy? Do you want to try writing, starting your own YouTube channel, gaming, gardening, playing an instrument…?

It’s easy to lose track of the present in anticipation of the future. I’ve done it more times than I can count! But we all need to look for ways to improve the time we have right now, rather than longing for a different time.

The Daydream of Romance

GIF from Once Upon a Time

What about this answer?

B) I can't find romance where I am

Say you haven't come across anyone in your community, workplace, church, etc. Something else cool about today: the internet. You may consider online dating.

I would also suggest that, in my personal experience, you probably don't want to find a boyfriend/girlfriend until you don't feel like you need one; gaining that kind of self-confidence and independence is so valuable! It wasn't until I realized I would be fine living a life without romance that I found someone to love.

Even so, regarding online dating:

I may do an article on this in the future, but I actually do have some experience with online dating: I was drifting in this proverbial boat (wishing for a significant other) about a year ago.

I’ll be honest with a spark of optimism (as I usually prefer to be about life); you probably have several months ahead of you where you’ve talked to some weirdos and sent out your hopeful messages to people who have never gotten back to you. You might also meet some nice people who just don’t carry that romantic spark about them for you. I actually met the love of my life on an online dating website (called Christian Mingle), though I talked to many people before ever coming across him.

I had messaged so many guys I thought I might be interested in that I had grown skeptical and didn’t make much of an effort to reach out to him. Thankfully, he messaged me after I visited his profile, and we’ve been dating for over five months now!

The point is: Take the initiative with your life, and don’t let bitterness or skepticism take hold like I did.

Learn from rejections and failures; what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, my friend!

GIF from Once Upon a Time

C) I’m not happy with the house/community I currently live in.

Are you dissatisfied with your living situation? Are your neighbors the worst? Is something always broken in your house?

Well, regarding the things breaking, YouTube and Google are the awesome twins for finding people who know stuff and can walk you through finding a solution!

Regarding your discontentment with life, I am reminded of a scene in the TV series Once Upon a Time, where Cinderella tells Rumpelstiltskin, “My life is wretched.”

In the simplest wording possible, Rumpelstiltskin gives her the best advice she may have ever received: “Then change it.”

I prefer to maintain a mentality that you can and will change what you need to change in your life, but that everything happens for a reason.

We don’t need to water the grass of tomorrow; let it worry about itself.

Make the changes you can today in anticipation of tomorrow, but don't forget to look around at the lush landscape of today’s journey.

Let's Close with a Wise Word from Oogway...

Still from Kung Fu Panda

Thanks so much for reading!

happiness
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About the Creator

Journey Scribe

Hey, everyone! My name's Jessica, and I am a Christian and aspiring novelist just trying my hand at writing articles! Thanks so much for viewing my page/works on here!

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