Two Futures

[Ninja_pig]

I wrote this and I think it's a good way to visualize the future. I think it will be interesting to some of you. The idea is to write about one good future and one bad future for yourself. A positive and a negative motivator to do what is right in the present. I encourage you all to do the exercise too. I think it will be useful to just about anyone.

Future #1 - The good future

This is a possible future 5 years from now if I do the following things:

Stop wasting time with short term pleasures (youtube, video games, movies, tv shows, porn)

Keep up with my responsibilities (get good grades in school, pursue current opportunities like research)

Keep up with my health (meditate daily, work out daily and eat properly)

Make new friends and maintain current relationships

Keep up with reading and playing the guitar

 

I am close to obtaining my PhD in physics. I'm working on research that I'm interested in. I am very skillful with my craft and I understand the inner workings of my field very well. I can communicate with other experts at a high level and I am amazed daily at the spectacular complexity that I knew was there. I am working in a respectable institution and my future career paths look ripe with opportunity. I feel as though my work is important and is really pushing the field of physics forward. I am proud of the work I have done so far and I really feel like I am living up to my potential. I'm excited for what's to come and I feel as though I'm only getting started. I have the ability to dream. I am inspired by the people I work with and feel uplifted by them.

 

Physical movements are easy for me. I have reached the physical potential I always knew I could have. I can run a 5 minute mile without too much pain. My physique is sculpted and lean. Others compliment me on my looks. Girls I don't know pay attention to me as I walk into a room. I feel comfortable in my own skin. I could take anyone in a fight, but I don't have to because people don't really want to mess with me. I sleep easily. I'm flexible

 

I have a circle of friends that I have a deep connection to. I'm either in a relationship with a girl I truly believe to be the most attractive girl I have ever met or I frequently go on dates with girls I find attractive. I keep up with my mom, dad, brother, and relatives and I know what is going on in their lives. I don't forget people's birthdays. People feel good around me and I feel good around them. I have the ability to make people feel important. I make new friends quickly and often. I can feel what others are feeling.

 

I feel at peace when I'm alone. I can explore my own mind without loosing focus for hours on end. I wake up and go to bed in accordance with sunrise and sunset. I have ultimate piece of mind. I have the ability to fully appreciate the present moment. I am grateful to be alive. Reality feels magical. I can reliably become lucid while I am dreaming. I remember my dreams very well. I'm generally optimistic about myself and the world. I have a deep understanding and love of myself.

 

I can sing and play the guitar with many songs I've memorized and I can do it well enough that others are impressed. More importantly, I deeply enjoy playing guitar and feel at ease when I can escape for a little bit by doing so. I am well read, I have read many of the books I have been interested in for a while. I don't feel in the dark with regards to my knowledge about the world. I feel mentally fit and stimulated. I can use my words quickly and with precision. I speak like a samurai cuts. I speak in a manner that is easy to understand, entertaining, and makes listeners feel smarter by listening to me. I'm quick-witted and funny.

 

Future #2 - the bad future

This is a future 5 years from now if I do the following things:

Spend unreasonable amounts of time watching YouTube, playing video games, watching tv/movies/porn

Let my grades slip and don't follow through on opportunities

Neglect to go to the gym and eat aimlessly.

Only make friends when the opportunity falls into my lap. Be lazy in my current relationships and offer no effort on my part

Quietly forget to read and play guitar

 

I'm in a mediocre university position earning $20 per hour. I'm not really an expert in anything and I'm not particularly good at anything. I kind of just took the easiest path and now I'm not doing awfully, but in my heart I know I have failed. I have completely forgotten about my dreams. I see no real opportunities in science/engineering in front of me. My heart is not in my work. I look forward to the weekends and watch the clock. I'm continually uninspired and seek to do the minimum amount of work possible in my job. I don't feel as though I have an identity. I have a faint idea/memory of what life could be, but I've never really experienced it so I don't really care. I feel numb and my life feels pointless. It doesn't really look like I'll be able to change my position ever.

 

I feel both anxious and lethargic at the same time. Daily life is a workout for me. I don't really have much energy. My body is high in fat and I'm not strong at all. I am kind of disappointed every time I look in the mirror. When I talk to girls I come off as creepy. I can't really feel how my body is doing. I get injured easily and I don't really like doing outdoor activities. I get pimples a lot.

 

I know a couple people that I talk to from time to time but we're not really friends. It's been a long time since I've had sex and there are no good options for me for a relationship. I don't have much of a drive to be sexually active because the porn keeps me sedated. I don't really flow easily in conversation and people don't really want to talk to me. My family doesn't really think about me that much. I don't feel as though I can talk to them easily. I feel cynical and jealous whenever I see others in a relationship or having a good time with friends. I don't have the confidence to talk to anyone new. People politely ignore me generally.

 

Life generally feels dull to me. There is a constant tightness in my chest that I can't get rid of except by numbing the pain with a distraction. I feel all the time. I get very caught up in the day to day events of life. I generally don't feel secure and I'm constantly worrying about the future. I have no idea what dreams even are. I'm not in touch with my emotions. Sometimes I wish I was dead. I know there's something more to life but I can't see it. Life is kind of boring.

 

I don't know how to play the guitar and I haven't finished a book in a long time. My thoughts are murky and speaking is kind of hard for me. People don't really understand me well. I have faint whispers of ideas in my head but can't make them concrete and certainly can't communicate them.

[Kshantivadin]

3 hours ago, Ninja_pig said:

Physical movements are easy for me. I have reached the physical potential I always knew I could have. I can run a 5 minute mile without too much pain. My physique is sculpted and lean. Others compliment me on my looks. Girls I don't know pay attention to me as I walk into a room. I feel comfortable in my own skin. I could take anyone in a fight, but I don't have to because people don't really want to mess with me. I sleep easily. I'm flexible

This is you in no time

[Kshantivadin]

I'll write this prompt soon. I really like it. Visualisation and reflecting is super hard for me, yet I'm aware how important it is. Makes me feel bad . Contemplation, visualisation and inquiry can get you so, so far

[Kshantivadin]

Future #1 - The good future

This is a possible future 5 years from now if I do the following things:

• limit instant gratification to 2 hours a day
• go to the library every workday
• enroll in therapy and do some active imagination/inquiry by myself
• continue doing sports
• practice meditation and contemplate which will bring about higher consciousness, compassion, wisdom and Love in my life
• make social connections happen

I have a degree in psychology and am a certified body psychotherapist / yoga teacher. I am in the best shape of my life, extremely happy in my body, strong, supple, healthy, full of energy and vibrant. I am financially independent. I have mastered my emotions and thus have no blockages from experiencing life in its fullness. I have become my own best friend instead of an enemy - thinking of myself and caring of myself with the purest love I have yet to experience. All trauma has been integrated, allowing me to express myself to the core. This profound radiant change has attracted love in my life in so many ways - I now have a loving partner I couldn't even dream of having 5 years ago. My friends are the some of the most remarkable people I know to have walked this Earth. I am extremely proud of each and every one of them and thank God every day for having them in my life. They are proud to be my friend as well and find my presence inspiring. Every day is an adventure and a step forward to complete realisation and actualisation.
Due to the immense beauty of this actualised abundance, there is no obstruction to realising deeper and deeper insights on the nature of reality. There is no obstruction to the flow of my love. I am finally in a place where I can offer my numerous gifts to the world. I am finally in a place where I can fill the cup of those in such dire need. I am filled with such a profound sense of awe, gratitude and bliss each and every day for experiencing this kind of life, making any and every endeavour effortless. I have exited the Dark Night (Vipashyana jñanas) a couple of years ago and look at 5 years ago with a sense of compassion, gratitude and relief.

Future #2 - the bad future

This is a future 5 years from now if I do the following things:

• indulge in unlimited instant gratification
• avoid schoolwork
• neglect the cultivation of thumos
• neglect the cultivation of other virtues
• neglect spiritual practice
• avoid deep emotional work that will perpetuate the bad habits and patterns in my life that will make me miserable
• eat shit food, overeat
• neglect training
• isolate myself, do not share myself with the world, do not put myself out there

In this future, I would be fucked. I would be super unhappy. I didn't even finish university due to it being emotionally too hard - not because I didn't have the skills to do it, but because I did not put effort in good habits that would make me pass and also things that would let me get over the inner blockages (eg therapy). This future is too shit for me to even contemplate it. I am overweight, making it way more difficult to move and making me have less energy and feel bitter, resentful and angry. People disrespect me because of my apparent unhappiness. I miss opportunities left and right. I am single and have unsatisfactory friendships. I'm so disconnected from Beauty and Love and Consciousness that I'm probably having thoughts of suicide on a daily basis.

 

First try, I was disgusted about the second future which definitely lit a fire under my ass to make the first future a reality. I will expand on this prompt as I see it can be very transformative, I am tired to do more now.