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Many of us live not now, but in the future

• If a man examines carefully his thoughts he will be surprised to find how much he lives in the future. His well- being is always ahead.  Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves – regret for the past and fear of the future. Fulton Oursler
• The future,  Planning,  Preparation,  Worry,  Anxiety,  Stress,  The past,  Live in the present

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Our worries about the future create anxiety, stress and fear

• If you are anxious you are living in the future. Lao Tzu
• The mind that is anxious about the future is miserable. Seneca
• We worry away our lives, fearing the future, discontent with the present, unable to take in the idea of dying, unable to sit still. Lewis Thomas
• This is the sad joke about human beings: We are so busy worrying whether or not we are going to be at peace in the future, we don’t give ourselves the chance to be at peace in the present. Peter Russell
• It is the dark menace of the future that makes cowards of us. Dorothy Day
• The source of anxiety lies in the future. If you can keep the future out of mind, you can forget your worries. Milan Kundera
• When I am anxious it is because I am living in the future. Richard Carlson
• All negativity is caused by denial of the present. Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry—all forms of fear—are caused by too much future, and not enough presence. Eckhart Tolle
• Are you stressed? Are you so busy getting to the future that the present is reduced to a means of getting there? Stress is caused by being ‘here’ but wanting to be ‘there,’ or being in the present but wanting to be in the future. Eckhart Tolle
• What else does anxiety about the future bring you but sorrow upon sorrow? Thomas Kempis
• We are, perhaps, uniquely among the earth’s creatures, the worrying animal. We worry away our lives, fearing the future, discontent with the present, unable to take in the idea of dying, unable to sit still. Lewis Thomas
• Anxiety,  Worry,  Stress

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We often reduce the now to a mere stepping stone to the future

• If you then become excessively focused on the goal, perhaps because you are seeking happiness, fulfillment, or a more complete sense of self in it, the Now is no longer honored. It becomes reduced to a mere stepping stone to the future, with no intrinsic value. Your life’s journey is no longer an adventure, just an obsessive need to arrive, to attain, to ‘make it.’ You no longer see or smell the flowers by the wayside either, nor are you aware of the beauty and the miracle of life that unfolds all around you when you are present in the Now. Eckhart Tolle
• If your destination, or the steps you are going to take in the future, take up so much of your attention that they become more important to you than the step you are taking now, then you completely miss the journey’s inner purpose. Eckhart Tolle

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We strive for fulfilment and perfection sometime in the future

• The past gives you an identity and the future holds the promise of salvation, of fulfillment in whatever form. Both are illusions. Eckhart Tolle
• What man really seeks is not perfection which is in the future, but fulfillment which is ever in the present. N. Sri Ram
• Fulfilment,  Perfectionism

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We yearn for a magical rose garden over the horizon

• Do you tend to put off living in the present in order to worry about the future, or to yearn for some ‘magical rose garden over the horizon? Dale Carnegie

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We use the future to escape the present

• I’m not going to be one of those people who sits around talking about what they’re going to do or become. I’m just going to do it. Imagining the future is kind of nostalgia. You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you’ll escape it one day, and how amazing it will be, and imagining the future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present. John Green

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We spend our lives preparing for the future and never really live

• I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument, while the song I came to sing remains unsung. Tagore
• Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so? Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out. Oliver Wendell Holmes
• Man is born to live, not to prepare for life. Boris Pasternak
• We are always getting ready to live but never living. Ralph Waldo Emerson
• We are very good at preparing to live, but not very good at living. We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma, and we are willing to work very hard to get a job, a car, a house, and so on. But we have difficulty remembering that we are alive in the present moment, the only moment there is for us to be alive. Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy, and serenity. We need only to be awake, alive in the present moment. Thich Nhat Hanh
• Preparation

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Happiness is present time, it has nothing to do with the future

• Happiness is not a future event. Joe Fortenberry
• Happiness is present time, it has nothing to do with the future. Robert Holden
• Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don’t wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Earl Nightingale
• We know nothing of tomorrow; our business is to be good and happy today. Sydney Smith
• We spend so much time waiting to be happy in the future… that we forget to live in the moment. We fail to realize that happiness can only ever be now. Karl Moore
• If happiness always depends on something expected in the future, we are chasing a will-o’-the-wisp that ever eludes our grasp, until the future, and ourselves, vanish into the abyss of death. Alan Watts
• Happiness,  Now is a priceless gift

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Our preoccupation with the future blinds us from the present…

• A preoccupation with the future not only prevents us from seeing the present as it is but often prompts us to rearrange the past. Eric Hoffer

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… and saps us of our strength today

• I feel sorry for people who think more about a rainy day ahead than sunshine today. Rae Foley
• Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy. Leo F. Buscaglia
• Worry pulls tomorrow’s cloud over today’s sunshine.
• Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, only today of its strength. Charles Haddon Spurgeon
• It is not the cares of today, but the cares of tomorrow, that weigh a man down. George MacDonald
• Never borrow sorrow from tomorrow. Helen Steiner Rice
• Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength. Corrie ten Boom
• You can destroy your now by worrying about tomorrow. Janis Joplin
• Sometimes, I feel the past and the future pressing so hard on either side that there’s no room for the present at all. Evelyn Waugh

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Someday is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave

• Someday is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you. Timothy Ferriss
• The future is no place to place your better days. Dave Matthews
• A life lived for tomorrow never comes. Jackson Kiddard
• Unfortunately, the clock is ticking, the hours are going by. The past increases, the future recedes. Possibilities decreasing, regrets mounting. Haruki Murakami
• Dreams

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The future exists only as a thought in the head and it has very little to do with reality

• Past and future only exist as thoughts in your head. Eckhart Tolle
• The past gives you an identity and the future holds the promise of salvation, of fulfillment in whatever form. Both are illusions. Eckhart Tolle
• The future is imaginary. Ken Keyes
• Live in the present, remember the past, and fear not the future, for it doesn’t exist and never shall. There is only now. Christopher Paolini
• I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is. Alan Wilson Watts
• But opinions, judgments, memories, dreaming about the future—ninety percent of the thoughts spinning around in our heads have no essential reality. Charlotte J. Beck

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The future is promised to no one

• Go for it now. The future is promised to no one. Wayne Dyer
• The past is over and gone. The future is not guaranteed. Wayne Dyer
• We can gain experience from the past, but we can’t relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we don’t know if there is one. George Harrison
• The future is uncertain but the end is always near. Jim Morrison

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Heed not the future (or the past), but live in the now

• Never confuse yourself by visions of an entire lifetime at once… remember that it is not the weight of the future or the past that is pressing upon you, but ever that of the present alone. Marcus Aurelius
• Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.  Marcus Aurelius
• Shut off tomorrow and the future. This time is not yet born. Today is our most precious possession. It is our only sure possession. Dale Carnegie
• Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. Buddha
• Don’t live in the past, don’t ponder about the future, stay at the PRESENT moment NOW…always. Mark Twain
• Cease to inquire what the future has in store and take as a gift whatever the day brings forth. Horace
• Seize the day, and put the least possible trust in tomorrow. Horace
• Live in the present

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You cannot make valid plans for the future if you have no capacity for living now

• No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now. Alan Watts
• The best way to prepare for life is to begin to live. Elbert Hubbard
• Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Wayne Dyer
• We know nothing of tomorrow, our business is to be good and happy today. Sydney Smith
• If we are ever to enjoy life, now is the time, not tomorrow or next year…. Today should always be our most wonderful day. Thomas Dreier
• Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. Mahatma Gandhi
• The secret to living the life of your dreams is to start living the life of your dreams today, in every little way you possibly can. Mike Dooley
• Planning

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Take care of today and the future will take care of itself

• …the best possible way to prepare for tomorrow is to concentrate with all your intelligence, all your enthusiasm, on doing today’s work superbly today. That is the only possible way you can prepare for the future. Dale Carnegie
• By living deeply in the present moment, we can understand the past better and we can prepare for a better future. Thich Nhat Hanh
• If you are truly present and know how to take care of the present moment as best you can, you are doing your best for the future already. Thich Nhat Hanh
• I try to learn from the past, but I plan for the future by focusing exclusively on the present. That’s where the fun is. Donald Trump
• Live quietly in the moment and see the beauty of all before you. The future will take care of itself… Paramahansa Yogananda
• Living in the present moment doesn’t mean you aren’t affected by, or that you don’t learn from, your past—or that you don’t plan for tomorrow (or for retirement and so forth), only that you understand that your most effective, powerful, and positive energy is the energy of today—the energy of right now. Richard Carlson
• Why should you worry about the future? You don’t even know the present properly. Take care of the present and the future will take care of itself. Ramana Maharshi
• No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now. Alan Watts
• Real generosity towards the future lies in giving all to the present. Albert Camus
• Take care of the present and the future will take care of itself. Ramana Mararshi
• The only way to deal with the future is to function in the now. Gita Bellin
• Live quietly in the moment and see the beauty of all before you. The future will take care of itself. Paramahansa Yogananda
• You have no future, you have power over this moment only; your future is happening now, and by recognizing this, you will have power over what you don’t have. D., Gary R. McClain
• You had better live your best and act your best and think your best today; for today is the sure preparation for tomorrow and all the other tomorrows that follow. Harriet Martineau
• Embrace the gift of today

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… for you weave the future on the loom of today

• It is said that the present is pregnant with the future. Voltaire
• Live in the present moment but know that you are creating your future in this moment. Robert Anthony
• The future depends on what we do in the present. Mahatma Gandhi
• Beware; your actions in the present determine your future. Mata Amrithanandamayi
• The future depends on what you do today. Mahatma Gandhi
• The future is completely open, and we are writing it moment to moment. Pema Chodron
• We are weaving the future on the loom of today. Grace Stricker Dawson
• It is your thoughts and acts of the moment that create your future. Sai Baba
• Your future is created by what you do today, not tomorrow. Robert Kiyosaki
• All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today. Proverb
• Today is the blocks with which we build. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• Light tomorrow with today. Elizabeth Barrett Browning
• In today already walks tomorrow. Friedrich von Schiller
• Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Charles Dederich
• How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. Annie Dillard
• This is what you do. You make a future for yourself out of the raw material at hand. Michael Cunningham

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You can’t control the future but you can control what you do now

• You can’t control the future, but you can affect the present moment. If you want to have a better future, create it now. Celestine Chua
• You have no future, you have power over this moment only; your future is happening now, and by recognizing this, you will have power over what you don’t have. Eve Adamson, Ph.D.
• Control

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Not just your doing, but your state of consciousness now also determines the future

• What the future holds for you depends on your state of consciousness now. Eckhart Tolle
• If it is the quality of your consciousness at this moment that determines the future, then what is it that determines the quality of your consciousness? Your degree of presence. So the only place where true change can occur and where the past can be dissolved is the Now. Eckhart Tolle
• Action,  Consciousness

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The future cannot be foreseen, only enabled

• As for the future, your task is not to foresee it but to enable it. Antoine de Saint- Exupery
• The future is an opaque mirror. Anyone who tries to look into it sees nothing but the dim outlines of an old and worried face.  Jim Bishop

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The future always begins now …

• Each day is a new opportunity. Yesterday is over and done. Today is the first day of my future. Louise L. Hay
• The future is always beginning now. Mark Strand
• Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin. Mother Teresa
• The future starts today, not tomorrow. John Paul II
• Find the point where the past is over and the future is yet to begin. Nick Nakov
• The future is today. William Osler

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… and comes just one day at a time

• The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time. Abraham Lincoln

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Learn to let go of worries about the future

• Worry is never useful. When we find ourselves worrying, we should either act and not worry, or decide not to act and not worry. Richard Koch
• A very harmonious way to live with an awkward world would be to either try to change what pisses us off, or just accept it as it is. John C. Parkin
• Worrying is wasted time. Use the same energy for doing something about whatever worries you. Oprah Winfrey
• The only real antidote for anger or worry is purposeful action in the direction of your goals. Brian Tracy
• Worry ducks when purpose flies overhead. Terri Guillemets
• Set aside “worry time”. There may be an issue that is bothering you and that you need to sit down and think through. Dr. Timothy Sharp
• Ask yourself this question: Will this matter a year from now? Richard Carlson
• Past and future veil God from our sight; burn up both of them with fire.  Rumi
• Letting go,  Worry

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Believe in the Divine Order of the universe and trust that the future will unfold as it’s meant to

• As you begin to live in the present moment, you will experience a subtle but profound change. Worrying about the future will cease. A deep peace will enfold you, a peace that says, ‘All is well. There is nothing to fear.’ Everything is unfolding according to plan and you are being guided each step along the way. Douglas Bloch
• This is the ultimate truth of synchrodestiny—that the sum total of the universe is conspiring to create your personal destiny… We cannot even imagine the complex forces behind every event that occurs in our lives. There’s a conspiracy of coincidences that weave the web of karma or destiny and creates an individual’s personal life. Deepak Chopra
• If you just go with the flow, no matter what weird things happen along the way, you always end up exactly where you belong. Tom Upton
• I trust in the ebb and flow of the universe. I trust that life’s bigger than what I can see. I trust that there is a divine order beyond my control. And I trust that no matter what happens, I will be all right. Oprah Winfrey
• Have faith that things will work out. You might not end up exactly where you intended to go, but eventually you will arrive precisely where you need to be.  Marc and Angel Chernoff
• I let go and trust that all is happening perfectly. Susan Jeffers
• When you let go of everything you think you know and just trust, life has a way of working itself out that’s better than you could ever imagine. Jackson Kiddard
• You may not be able to see what is ahead of you, but all you have to do is trust. There are miracles and magic waiting for you right now.  Joelene Setterfield
• Trust in God,  Divine order

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By all means, have intentions, goals and plans for the future and take actions towards them…

• Learn to harness the power of intention, and you can create anything you desire. Deepak Chopra
• Everything that happens in the universe starts with intention. Intention is the very basis of creation. Deepak Chopra
• Our intention creates our reality. Wayne Dyer
• I tell you this: Your Life proceeds out of your intentions for it. Neale Donald Walsch
• You create your thoughts, your thoughts create your intentions, and your intentions create your reality. Wayne Dyer
• Intention,  Goal setting,  Planning,  Action

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… but let go of your attachment to the results…

• Learn the magic of nonattachment. Nonattachment means: “I’ll do everything possible, I’ll put the odds in my favor, I’ll work hard and concentrate. I’ll do my best to succeed. But, if I don’t, that’s okay, too.” Richard Carlson
• The key is to have wholesome intentions without being attached to their results. Rick Hanson, Ph.D.
• Life is under no obligation to give us what we expect. Margaret Mitchell
• Intend the future but let go of attachment to results

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… so you are open to the new and better possibilities that the universe may have in store for you

• When things don’t seem to go my way, I let go of my attachment to how I think they should be, trusting that I am not seeing the big picture. If I knew the big picture, I would understand that there is a reason for things unfolding the way they are, and that the cosmos has a plan for me much grander than anything I have conceived. Deepak Chopra
• We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. Joseph Campbell
• Release all expectations after you’ve set your goal. You never know what the universe might deliver to your doorstep. That’s why you want to have an open-mind, because what if the universe has something better in store for you? Henri Junttila
• Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable. Mary Oliver
• Just because things hadn’t gone the way I had planned didn’t necessarily mean they had gone wrong. Ann Patchett
• Even when you think you have your life all mapped out, things happen that shape your destiny in ways you might never have imagined. Deepak Chopra
• I discovered life sometimes has a way of giving you what you need, but not in the you expect. Lisa Kleypas
• I’m making space for the unknown future to fill up my life with yet-to-come surprises. Elizabeth Gilbert
• The future can ever promise but one thing and one thing only: surprises. Steven Erikson
• Possibility

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Approach the future with an attitude of trust, hope and faith …

• Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith. Henry Ward Beecher
• Faith is equivalent with hope, optimism, and the belief that a positive future awaits us. Andrew Newberg
• Hope is sweet-minded and sweet-eyed. It draws pictures; it weaves fancies; it fills the future with delight. Henry Ward Beecher
• Hope is what motivates us to work hard and get things done. It’s the idea that something better will happen in the future because of what we do. George Anderton
• Desire and hope will push us on toward the future. Michel de Montaigne
• You have within you, right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you. Brian Tracy
• Whatever with the past has gone, the best is always yet to come. Lucy Larcom
• Trust,  Faith,  Hope

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… but don’t live just for future hopes, also live for today

• So foolish is the heart of man that he ever puts his hope in the future, learning nothing from his past errors and fancying that tomorrow must be better than today. Mika Waltari
• Hope is what keeps you going, but hope keeps you focused on the future, and this continued focus perpetuates your denial of the Now and therefore your unhappiness. Eckhart Tolle

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