Remember What You Liked in the Past to Enjoy What You Do in the Present

Futuristic focus is helpful for dreaming but not always helpful for getting the most out of life. I have what I call the Destination Disorder. You know you have this too if you do not take the time to enjoy what you are doing now!

When you suffer from Destination Disorder, by the time you arrive at the destination you intended to get to, you are already mentally onto the next destination. In order to enjoy the present, we need to do what we liked in the past.  It seems so simple, right? Now we all change over time,  so sure, there are things in the past that we use to like that we no longer do.  If we focus on not just what we enjoyed but also why we enjoyed what we’ve done in the past, we can then use it to enhance our enjoyment in the future.

At a point in my life where joy was difficult for me to experience, I sat down with a mentor of mine who told me that to find joy in my life now, I need to look back on the things I have done in the past the brought joy. The sad thing was, the things that I use to enjoy, I had stopped doing. Life got in the way and I did not “have time” to do these “joyful” things anymore.  They almost seemed like a waste of time in my present quest for productivity.

This is when I realized that joy is a choice and a choice that is critical to living a fulfilled life.  I needed to bring back the things in my past that brought me joy in the past, if I truly wanted to live fulfilled and not just “productive” on paper. If you are feeling like life is not enjoyable, take a second and bring back what you use to like and start enjoying your life again.