Have you ever noticed that we tend to spend a whole lot of time looking ahead of us, waiting for the next thing in life? At least for me, it seems like I’m always looking forward to something in the future and not really enjoying the place I’m in right now. Why is that?

Well, maybe it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I once heard that when planning a wedding, the excitement leading up to the day is actually more satisfying psychologically and physically than the actual event. And actually, this makes perfect sense to me.

Something like a wedding can get so built up in your head. Looking forward to what you expect your wedding day will be like is really exciting because, well, in your head, it’s pretty perfect. When the actual day comes though, you realize that there is nothing supernatural about it after all. It’s just a day. Yes, there are a lot of great moments and you will hopefully remember your wedding day with fond memories for the rest of your life. But honestly, it’s just a day. It goes by really quickly and it doesn’t feel nearly as movie-like and magical as you might think. So enjoy the excitement of planning, preparing, and envisioning! It really is where most of the fun is.

So why exactly do I think that this isn’t a bad thing? Shouldn’t it concern me a little bit that in a way, I’m living for tomorrow instead of today? Not necessarily. See, when you have something to look forward to you have a reason to get through today. Maybe today simply isn’t the greatest day. Let’s face it; as much as I’d like to be genuinely happy for every moment of every day, there are some things in my day that just aren’t enjoyable. I’m not going to be happy as I’m sitting in Spanish class, bored out of my mind, watching the time tick by in slow motion. I’m just not! And that’s ok, because life isn’t always about right now. Thank God for that! If I judged the value of my life by happy I am each day, I probably wouldn’t be alive today because I wouldn’t have always seen the point.

I think that looking forward to things is part of the joy that God provides. I can be joyful and excited about the future, because I know that God is in charge of it. I know that He has great things in store for me, and that gets me feeling very enthusiastic about life!

Of course, there is something to be said for enjoying life in the moment. I think that a healthy regimen for a joyful life includes both excitement for the future and enjoyment of the small and big happy moments in life right now. God makes each day, and He puts so many great things in each of them. We get to enjoy things like our friends, families, and pets, delicious food, the beauty of nature, really good books, and funny TV shows. We can enjoy quiet moments with God and fun times with the people we love. These things are available to us most days—we just have to take the time to enjoy them. And for the days when these things aren’t available or just aren’t enough, there’s always tomorrow to look forward to. That is part of the gift that God offered to each one of us when He created us out of love, and when He died for us out of that same passionate love.

Personally, there are many things that I look forward to. I look forward to being finished with school next week and enjoying my winter break. I look forward to starting my new classes and hopefully my new job, and with them, my next adventure in life. I look forward to Cory’s graduation in a few years, after which we can move to wherever we want to live and make our own home together. I greatly look forward to the day a few years from now when we decide to start our family (which at the moment, is what we think we want). I even look forward to the day that this life comes to an end for me, because that is when I’ll join my Holy Father in heaven and experience a level of joy and peace that I could never know here on earth. I’m looking forward to these and many other things, all of which are both exciting and slightly scary. The future is full of possibilities, and that can be simply thrilling to think about!

So is it bad to look forward to the future? I definitely don’t think so. Is it still important to enjoy today for all that it’s worth? Absolutely. God gives us each day as a gift, and He also promises us great things for the future. Enjoy them both, and thank God for loving you enough to provide them.