More on the complexities of the fear of your future self. In life, sometimes we feel the need to fulfill our immediate desires at the cost of our future goals. Living for the moment means that we can not reconcile ourselves to our future identity, whether it be in a home that we purchase after planning and saving, or a retirement after sacrificing our monthly spending for a future return. There are also visible indicators of abandoning future self by the great amount of credit we have accumulated on cards that satisfy us for the moment and do not secure future wealth. Our lives are lived in the blatant admission that our future years will be worse than our past and that the best and the beautiful are behind us. There is a tendency to long for yesterday where there seemed to be more security in a life where cares were lighter and responsibilities were less. We feel that a future identity with a spouse will only amplify the present pain and all thoughts are lost of any greater future existing so we seek solace from friends whose affinity, like a drug, gives us the attention and satisfaction that we feel is missing in what we have interpreted as a doomed relationship. We blame ourselves for our past decisions and see no hope in recovering from the hurt it caused. We then deny ourselves the lesson of the teachable moment and instead of gaining wisdom in overcoming the obstacles, we compete with others for sympathy. The social capital we find significant in our lives comes more from a response to struggles than the victory in achievement. More than that, we’ve made the hurt into something of a demon that we are convinced will interrupt our future progress which will only result in future hurt. It is all part of the complexities of future guilt and skewed vision of our future self. Future guilt will lead some to greater sadness as the years advance and unredeemed time is lost. Feeling remorse for what selfishly had been squandered on what ultimately was pride, the guilt is real instead of imagined as it was in the past. The fruits of life in the moment can lead one to bear the bitterness of a broken home, a broken marriage, and a broken life. Sadly, the counsel of friends who support the hope of the invested future self is not heeded, leaving the true friend with a great sense unrequited love. Love, of course, is the attitude that seeks the other’s best interest and highest good; it thinks the best and does the best for the other. The moral of the story is to seek the counsel of others who love you. Find the value of investing in the future of your church, family, home, marriage, and children. See the value in past failures as a challenge to future victory, not a future guilt that is based on a failed past. If you are in a position to live the success that others would aspire to have, live it convincingly. There can be no greater ambition and no greater satisfaction than to live in accordance with biblical principles and godliness.