Your Now Is Not Your Forever

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I was recently reading John Green's latest book Turtles All the Way Down (check out my review on Goodreads!) when I was struck by something the main character's mother said to her. 

You see, Aza, the main character, struggles with OCD and it pushes her into what she calls "thought spirals." She was experiencing a rather intense though spiral when her mother reminded her that her now was not her forever. That did little to soothe Aza and I don't blame her, but probably not for the same reason. 

Those 6 words can be interpreted in a few different ways. Aza's mom was using them to remind her that things would eventually get better and although it can be a comforting thought, I find things a bit scarier. 

Those 6 words sum up how I feel about my anxiety. 

Your now is not your forever. 

Although it is meant to be optimistic and serve as a reminder that the future will be better, it tells me that the good times also don't last. So even though I am beyond happy with the way my life is going now, it won't always be that way. And of course, we can take that how I want. I see it as how I won't always get to spend time with my entire family on a weekly basis. I won't always get to exercise so easily. I won't always be able to travel.

Life is scary. The unknown is scary. And knowing that my now is not my forever does little to make me feel better. 

This post isn't really meant to have a message. If I knew how to deal with this, I would. It's hard to live in the moment and it's becoming increasingly more difficult with the addition of technology and social media constantly thrown in our faces. We are reminded of what was and what is to come. We see everything we want and everything we fear happening all around the world. 

What I do know is that simply recognizing why you feel what you feel can help you take steps to overcome it. Acknowledging that my now is not my forever still helps me when life is tough, but it also reminds me to appreciate every moment for what it is. This is probably why I get so emotional about special moments no matter how big or small they might be. 


I guess this post does have a message and it is just to remind all of us that our nows are not our forevers. You can do with that what you will, but overall, I think it's a good reminder. There are tons of amazing things ahead of us, but there are also some not so great things, and all we can do is focus on living in the now. So remember, your now is not your forever. 

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