Once upon a time, a guy named Phineas Gage got his skull punctured by a 3.5 foot long iron rod – it shot right through the top of the skull and out his left cheek. This is a picture of what happened.
Not only did he not die, he recovered and went back to functioning like a normal person (although his personality took a beating). Because the damage was to his brain’s frontal lobe, doctors figured that meant people could still function normally without it. It wasn’t until later that scientists discovered that the frontal lobe (or rather, the lack of it) was good for something – getting rid of parts of it actually helped calm people down. In fact, the removal procedure became a way to treat people suffering from anxiety and depression! Problem was, while people were calmer and happier, they were also unable to see past today and therefore, unable to plan for the future.
The linkage is clear: the ability to plan goes hand in hand with the capacity to freak and get all stressed up. We’re the only animals that can plan for the future … which is also why we’re the only ones who are in a constant state of anxiety. When you live purely in the moment (like kids do), there’s nothing to stress about. It’s when you think about what’s going to happen three hours later, tomorrow, next week or five years down the road, that’s when you get stressed cos you imagine all sorts of things going wrong.
I got all this from Stumbling On Happiness (Daniel Gilbert) and I found it to be such a revelation! We’re in a constant state of stress cos we’re living for the future. Always. We’re never truly in the present. Every single thing we do, we do for The Future. The Present Me will make sacrifices so that the Future Me will have an easier time. Think about it.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
1. Present Me forces herself out of bed over the weekends to go to the park or hill or forest reserve or wherever to run so that Future Me won’t become a big fat ugly tub o’ lard in her old age.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
2. Present Me puts in late hours in the office (and suffers a great deal for it), so that Future Me won’t need to rush like crazy and suffer like hell the next day.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
3. Present Me forgoes the pleasure of giving certain people a piece of her mind so that Future Me won’t suffer the consequences of being the most despised person in the office.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
This is all fine and dandy but the problem is, Future Me is continuously turning into Present Me, by the second, by the minute. You think by making sacrifices today, Future Me will have it better but no-o-o-o-o. Future Me becomes Present Me who will now be making sacrifices for the benefit of Future (Future) Me. Flummoxed? My point is, it never ever ends. When is it ever The Future? Never cos every minute, the Future turns into the Present, the Present into the Past. You never actually “arrive” in The Future – it’s not like one day you wake up and you go, “Okay, after suffering for so long, today is the Future. I can stop this planning nonsense and just be in the Present cos today’s the Future.”
As a kid, I used to imagine The Future. But now that I’m living The Future I’d pictured in my childhood, all I can think about is The Future of my later years. So when do I stop thinking about The Future? When I’m dead, I suppose.
I’m reminded of this funny scene in the 90s sitcom, The Golden Girls, when Dorothy finds out that her decrepit old mother, Sophia, has been secretly hoarding money while Dorothy has been going without so that her mother can live comfortably. So when she discovers Sophia’s load of cash, she is livid. “What’s all this money for?” she asks. Sophia replies, “My old age.” That made me laugh cos she’s like 200 years old with one foot in the grave. Even in her old age, she’s living for her future self.
I think that’s the case with all of us too. We lose sight of living in the present – in most jobs, it’s near impossible to live in the present. Where I work, we practically live three months ahead, so you can imagine the chaos there – you have presenteeism and futureeism all so mixed up, it takes a few seconds for me to remember exactly what day and month it really is.
We can’t do away with planning (although a break from anxiety sounds like heaven) but maybe the thing is to try not to get so sucked into it that it’s all we see. It may sound a bit cliché but hey, last I checked, I’m no scientist or psychologist. Live a little more today, worry a little less about tomorrow. Sounds like pretty good advice. Maybe I’ll take it someday myself 
12 Comments
June 19, 2009 at 4:04 PM
Wow, that guy’s brain got punctured and he’s still alive. How cool!
Funny that you’re talking about happiness. Just a few days ago my father was telling my mother and I about his ‘philosophy’ on happiness.
Since, my father is a person who works hard to run his business, he is constantly facing many challenges ahead.
So while he was saying all this, my mother was just nodding her head, barely listening and I was desperately trying to stay awake because I was so sleepy at that time.
His advice was simple, “Live your life today, ignore the problems that will be coming tomorrow. If you kept on thinking of the oncoming hardships, you will be restless and shall never feel content. Leave tomorrow FOR tomorrow.”
He said all that in Mandarin, I just translated it. I tried to make it sound as philosophical as possible.
Hehe.
June 20, 2009 at 3:26 AM
Yeah, Gage is practically a celebrity in neurology and psych circles – apparently, everybody studies his case. isn’t that weird? that was probably his destiny in life, to be the Guy With Iron Rod In Skull. It’s incredible.
I like your dad’s advice; it’s very true although tough to follow when you feel like everything’s going to hell in a handbasket, but it’s advice worth following nonetheless.
June 20, 2009 at 12:17 AM
the airbag reality of life – most of us are not driving fast enough to need it. but go on, plan for bad things to happen
June 20, 2009 at 3:17 AM
Gavin, your comment’s so deep I don’t know what to say in reply, so I’m gonna say this: “oh issit?”
June 20, 2009 at 5:10 AM
This is a wonderful post. I am a Psychology major and have read about old Phineas. The mind is amazing and can be our best friend and our worse enemy. Nothing can be more uplifting or more life altering, both good and bad, than the mind.
June 20, 2009 at 3:43 PM
You’re right. Problem is, the mind has, well, a mind of its own! Need to master the skill of controlling it a little better … that way, we may be able to make it work for us instead of against us
June 20, 2009 at 9:06 AM
yes, good advice… I could learn to live in the present because the present should be a present to myself and a present should be enjoyed. I must have more presence in the present.
June 20, 2009 at 11:14 AM
I knew you – of all people – would pull the ‘present-present’ thing! I’m brilliant. But don’t think so hard okay? Wouldn’t wanna injure that big brain of yours – hahahaa
June 20, 2009 at 10:06 AM
No wonder I am always so stressed up.. I am a genius!! Woohoo!!
June 20, 2009 at 11:15 AM
a genius perv … wow, there’s simply no better kind!
June 30, 2009 at 8:06 AM
I’m not sure if I feel enlightened or depressed…
June 30, 2009 at 12:28 PM
both – this is enlightening AND depressing. at least that’s how i felt when i was writing it. this piece was carefully designed to enlighten and depress you at the same time, meaning it worked!