The Act of Looking Forward

“Looking forward to things is half the pleasure of them” - Lucy Maud Montgomery

Last Sunday I was sitting in my office desk and I noticed the date on the right-hand corner of my office PC and suddenly realised that I will be going to visit my parents next week. My mood was lifted instantly although it was the first workday of the week. I will be going home! Wow!! I can’t wait to meet my parents. Unlike many youngsters of today, I am too much close to my father and mother.  How I wish they stayed with me always. But I know they will never want to leave the country and stay with me all the time and I won’t bother them as well. Now, coming back to my realization that I shall be going home next week, I felt confused as to whether I should look forward to that or start feeling sad right away that once it starts it will be over in the blink of the eye. Again I will be back. For me, the act of looking forward is what is the best part, better than maybe the actual journey.

Hence I was thinking about how the “Act of looking forward” is one of the essential components of our lives. This act of looking forward or ‘anticipation’ in one word is what makes us strive for more in life. We all look forward with eagerness for all our expectations in life.  When we are young at school we look forward to the ringing of the bell at the end of each period then, the end of the exam relaxation period where praying for good results is also an essential part. We all looked forward to growing up, waiting with anticipation for college life and beyond.  Reaching college we plan to have the time of our life but that time passes in a jiffy and we land for the hardest race of our life. To survive properly in the bad world outside is not an easy task. More often than not we get stuck at our own anticipations.

I read in research that the human mind loves to imagine things and hence this act of looking forward is an intrinsic part of our lives. We all imagine the possible good things that may happen to us and feel happy about it or imagine all the negative things and feel tensed and disturbed about it. However, we should try to ignore negativity as much as possible from our lives.

Anticipation is mostly a positive word, to look forward to something: pleasurable expectation – as the dictionary says.  It is very healthy to anticipate positive things. Reaping good rewards after hard work, having a perfect life, travelling the world are all on my “looking forward to” lists. Anticipation helps me to face the challenges of everyday life. Imagination and anticipation go hand in hand.  We all imagine, anticipate the best and try to act accordingly.

Life is full of anticipations every day. The act of looking forward is everywhere- right from a flavourful meal when we visit our favourite restaurant to the quality of that movie by our favourite movie star whether it is good or bad or looking forward to that compliment from our loved ones when we dress up for the date. Never getting out from the hung of the weekend and looking forward to the same at the beginning of the week always. This shows how anticipation is an essential flavour of an active life. People who never look forward to anything and claim to be very happy with the present are surely boring.

I love the act of looking forward every day for something new and exciting. I look forward to getting that perfect figure, traveling the world with my loved ones, to write a novel, meet my favourite author, get that dream job to do all those things which would make my life more beautiful. Anticipating those wishes and imagining how my life would be if they came true gives me the strength to face the present situation however challenging or smooth it may be. I work hard every day and make plans accordingly so that some of those wishes if not all gets fulfilled.

‘To look forward or not- should never be the question’!

I love the anticipation and I want to request anyone who would read this article to look forward to things in life that would make them really happy and work for it. Trust me the “Act of looking forward’ is wonderfully rewarding. ‘To look forward or not- should never be the question’.