Life Starts Today, Not Tomorrow

You can't sit back and wait for your world to turn around. You can't sit back and patiently watch the clock tick by while you remain stagnant. You've got to tackle your demons head on. You've got to look at your problems right now instead of expecting them to magically disappear.

By

Sophie Sollmann

If you’re waiting for your life to suddenly turn around tomorrow or in the next few days, I hate to break it to you, but it’s probably not going to happen.

You think that once you move to that city, or get that new car, or find a boyfriend, then you’re magically going to be happier? Or perhaps when you get that new tube of lipstick or get that dream job you’ve always wanted, all your previous problems are going to disappear, right? Wrong.

You’ve got to start living in the present moment. In the now. Because while you’re sitting there wondering when your life is going to get better, there are other people out in this world that are actually living.

And you aren’t living.

You can’t sit back and wait for your world to turn around. You can’t sit back and patiently watch the clock tick by while you remain stagnant. You’ve got to tackle your demons head on. You’ve got to look at your problems right now instead of expecting them to magically disappear.

If you’re feeling lonely right now and don’t have many friends, moving someplace new isn’t going to be a quick fix for that. If you hate yourself right now, getting a new car isn’t going to make you love yourself. If you are depressed and have terrible anxiety, a boyfriend isn’t going to fix how you feel.

You can’t just look for instant gratification, and quick turn arounds. Because ultimately, that high you will feel will leave you. It’s not going to stick around forever. Because five years from now, that car won’t be so new. That boyfriend might be gone. Your anxiety might still be there. Your unhappiness might still be there.

You need to look yourself in the mirror and figure out how to fix your problems without looking into the future.

Your life is happening now. This very minute. This very second. So make the most of it. Stop depending on the next few years for your happiness to appear. Start loving your life. Start falling in love with this one minute. With this very moment. With this millisecond.

Do whatever it takes to live for the now instead of later.

Your life isn’t going to start in a year or in ten years, it’s already begun. So work on yourself. Work on your life and on your relationships. Work on strengthening your bonds with others. And most importantly work on what makes you light up. Figure out what it is that you love to do whether it’s to take care of people, to bake, or to paint.

Work on loving yourself and the rest will follow suit.

Without self love, no car or home or move will bring you any joy. Because ultimately, happiness doesn’t come from money, or new things, or even travel. It comes from within you.

It comes from how happy you are with yourself and with your mind. It comes from knowing your strengths and weaknesses and knowing what you’re good at. It comes from your friendships and connections with others. It comes from your heart and how open your heart is to being loved and to love others.

Your life could end tomorrow. So make today count. Do something, anything that gives your heart a little bit of hope. And know that at the end of the day, all you have when you go to sleep at night is your heart, your mind, your body. So treat it with care.

Tomorrow is never guaranteed, so why not make the most of what you have right now.Thought Catalog Logo Mark