Do you know why you get excited by future projects?
Because in your mind, you can be perfect upon them. When you mentally envision yourself having written a book and being known as an author, being an elite and beautiful artist, owning an immensely wonderful home with elegant furnishings and artworks --
-- at those moments, you aren't you, rooted in the present, in this moment.
These visions of the future are a haven to someone who is tired, weary, somewhat beaten down.
And who, in Western society, is not somewhat tired, weary, and beaten down?
People who are "slightly less sophisticated" go to base modes to turn off the pain -- smoking cigarettes, getting blitzed drunk, diving into the loudest and brightest television imaginable.
But you, if you're thoughtful, are playing a much more dangerous game. The construction working man pounding Jack and Cokes on Friday night knows he's on an escapist binge. And after he sobers up on Saturday morning, he can go on to be a good father, participate in his community, enjoy a meal with his wife or friends.
The supposedly more thoughtful man or woman, the one who escapes into their own imagination, is playing a much more dangerous game. You can never live in the future; only in the present moment. And if you disown the present, you're unable to be present as a parent, as someone in the circles you care about, as someone in front of a plate of food.
These future projects, grand and dazzling ideas, eventually become present moment projects that either succeed or fail by the actions of your hands and mind. In these present moments, you're you -- real you, not future imagination fantasy you. And real you… real you has a little tension in your lower back, your knees are sore, you've got a little headache, you feel a little fat, you're self-conscious, you're somewhat confused, and don't feel up to the task.
What is your response? If your back and knees are sore, you could begin stretching and mobility exercises. This leads to springing and bounding. Learning nutrition and shedding the weight, cleaning up your diet, and reducing consumption of toxins clears the head. Taking the time to study yourself and your thoughts leads to the self-consciousness beginning to dissolve. Learning the skills of problem solving and project planning disentangles the confusion.
Of course, this all takes time and some effort. It's far easier to fantasize about a future where you're perfect and things happen without any action in the present moment. How will that future come about? Who knows.
Taking refuge in future perfections is comfortable, but at the expense of making a better life. The irony is that those who embrace the present moment and use it to build get to live in an actually magnificent future.