The Luxury of Planning for the Future

Calesse Smith
Oct 10, 2019
3 min read

I was listening to Amy Poehler’s memoir Yes Please on audiobook during my 75 minute commute home from school this afternoon and Amy, in her infinite wisdom said something that struck me. She said, “Being able to plan for the future is a luxury.”

I had seriously never before considered this as a statement of fact.

I am a planner. I am organized. I like to think ahead. I like to be prepared. These are aspects of my personality that are innate in me, present from birth, and, while there are many positive sides to these tendencies, there is also a dark side.

There are hundreds of thousands of people across the globe in developing countries, and those in developed countries living in poverty, who are only able to live in the present moment. They aim to get from one minute of the day to the next, and then do it all over again the following day. They don’t know where their next meal is coming from, if they will have a roof over their heads for the night, or even whether they’ll have work the next day. For them, they are living hand to mouth, one moment to the next. They aren’t able to plan ahead, to set aside money for a home, or for college tuition for their children, or for retirement. If they get money, they spend it immediately, because they have no other choice. Their families may be in danger of starving if they don’t spend that money to put food on the table that night.

It strikes me as ironic that, for these individuals, “living in the moment” is not a luxury, but a necessity and a fact of life. Whereas here in the US, a highly developed and wealthy country, some big buzz words and phrases currently are “mindfulness,” “live in the moment,” and, “slow down to savor.” We are so preoccupied with meticulously planning the next thing and setting aside money that we’ll draw from decades from now, that many of us are incapable of living in the present moment.

Being able to plan for the future is a luxury.

These words seemed to trigger a light bulb to flash in my mind.

If we indulge in this luxury too often, however, it is as if are throwing away the experiences and opportunities of the now. What’s next? Gotta plan meals for next week…lessons to teach…people to see…places to go…

What about the meal you’ve prepared and are consuming right now? What about the people who are right in front of you at this very moment? What about the event you’ve spent months planning and are involved it today? Living too much in the future can rob us of enjoying what we’ve spent so much time planning and preparing for. And if that is how we are living, is it really living at all?

Now, am I advocating throwing caution to the wind and never spending any time planning and preparing for the future? Of course not. But it seems as if, at least in our modern-day fast-paced, instant gratification, always connected culture, that we’ve taken this just a bit too far. We need to take a step back.

This is a concept that I personally struggle with immensely, and have for most of my life. Pretty much no matter what I am doing, there is at least a small corner of my brain dedicated to planning something that will happen in the future. This steals the joy and pleasure out of experiencing the moment.