Anxiety and the Future
|“If you’re depressed, you’re living in the past. If you’re anxious, you’re living in the future. If you’re at peace, you’re living in the present.”
—Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
—Jesus, Palestinian rabbi (Matthew 6:34)
“Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”
—James 4:14
These quotes have been on my mind quite a bit these days. Well into the pandemic and with an election around the corner, I spend a lot of time thinking about the future. And being anxious. What is going to happen to our country? How do we recover from such divisive times? How do we fight systemic racism? How do we tackle global climate change? On a personal level, what are we going to do about the holidays this year?
And so we have these quotes. Focus on the present instead of worrying about tomorrow. But, honestly, they seem like empty platitudes in the face of so much. Letting tomorrow worry about itself feels like how we got here in the first place. Is this way of thinking even useful for today? How do we make responsible, educated, choices that impact tomorrow without thinking about tomorrow? Can we ease our anxiety and still be responsible citizens?
I don’t really know, but I have some thoughts.
One way forward, is to recognize that we do need to think about the future, but only so long as it takes us to make a decision. Once we’ve made a decision about the future and have a plan of action, continuing to think about the future is only heaping coals on our own heads.
And I think action is important here. Idleness is directly connected to increased anxiety, so maybe Jesus isn’t telling us to throw away all cares and just do what feels good in the moment. Maybe he’s telling us if we’re worried about the future, then we need to take action in the present and focus on that.
That sounds nice, but I can only go to so many protests, write so many blog posts, and vote so many times (once per election).
Maybe what these three quotes are getting at is less “thinking about the future” and more “setting expectations for the future and needing those expectations to be met.”
It’s one thing to know, for example, that Biden might lose, and it’s an altogether different thing to need Biden to win. The first statement is an acknowledgment of a possible future outcome. The second is investing myself into a future outcome. Acknowledging a potential future loss is much less anxiety producing than having tightly held requirements of future outcomes. And if I’m invested in future outcomes, then I’m necessarily less invested in the current moment.
Ultimately, I suppose, what we have to do is take those actions we can take now, not invest ourselves too heavily into desired outcomes, and then focus on loving those around us (1 Cor 16:14). If we’re giving ourselves fully to what we are doing and to those we are with, then we are, necessarily, focused on the present moment, which should crowd out our anxiety. It probably wouldn’t hurt to get up and go on a walk, either.
Grace and Peace to you all.
These quotes were such a great way to start a discussion on anxiety and the future, but especially because you pushed back on them a bit. I LOVED this point: “One way forward, is to recognize that we do need to think about the future, but only so long as it takes us to make a decision.”
I also loved when you were listing things and then got to the personal. That. Is. So. Real. Ugh! Is it good to get together with so many people in one place? Can we say no to older family members who haven’t been able to see people for so long? Ugh! It’s so hard.
I really enjoyed where you took your investigation into those opening quotes. Sometimes they can feel so frustrating, which I think you nailed! I really love your readings – both of the last ones seem quite useful, and I’m going to try to keep them in mind.
Of course, your “maybe get up and go for a walk” hits soooo hard and feels very accurate. A lot of times I can get caught up in “doom scrolling” or just sticking inside and that can really sap energy. A walk is so often the thing to do. Maybe I’ll go do it after I finish working!
Great piece. I found it really edifying!!!
Thank you so much for your kind words!
I’m so glad you got something out of these last couple of months. My posts have increasingly become the answer to the question, “what do I need to hear right now?”
That the answer to that question produces a post that can be helpful to other people is pretty wonderful and fulfilling.