When it comes to “living in the now” versus “planning for the future,” we get very mixed messages from different sources in society. Throughout our entire secondary education, we are constantly being berated with information on why we need to start preparing for college, what we have to do to prepare for college, how to apply to colleges, what colleges look for in applicants and so on.

But none of this ends once we actually get to college.

As soon as the honeymoon phase is over, you quickly realize everyone is already telling you what you should be thinking about and preparing for after college. Whether you plan on going to grad school, getting an internship or starting a “big boy job,” you are expected to start thinking about what you want to do and planning for it before you have even completed your generals.

On the other hand, we also are constantly being told we should live for the moment and enjoy life as it happens, rather than constantly worry about things that have yet to happen.

This is a very popular theme in the media, particularly in mainstream movies and music. We have all seen a cheesy B movie about the stressed out college student who learns to let go for the night and enjoy the present.

The music industry also loves to tell us to let go of all of our inhibitions, sometimes genuinely encouraging us to live the moment and other times just encouraging us to get drunk off our asses.

So what is the best course of action? Should we live every day like it’s our last, or should we devote all of our time and energy to some future goal? Personally, I don’t think that either is a very good way to live. If you lived a life of pure hedonism and did whatever you wanted all the time without any concern for future consequences, sooner or later you would crash and burn and wonder why you never managed to amount to much.

On the other hand, if we only ever did things that were in furtherance of some future goal, our lives would probably be the most unbearable, stressful nightmares ever.

While it might sound like a total cliche, I think it’s a sound course of action to balance out instant gratification and long term success.

Each day, we should do something enjoyable for us in the present and something else that might not be enjoyable at the time but will benefit us in the future.

On both sides of the spectrum, neither has to be anything too extreme. Enjoying the present could be something as simple as watching a movie or going out with your friends. Working toward the future could be something as simple as starting that research paper you have been putting off for weeks or taking a look at some grad school applications if you plan on going down that road.

Just keep in mind that that future version of the present you’re worrying about will feel exactly like this. So don’t put too much stock into it over what’s happening right now.

Larry Philbin is the News Editor of The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].