Question
Some people prefer planning for the future while others argue that we should focus on the present. What is your opinion? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.
Sample answer
The present is where everything begins and there is no time like the present. Without being prisoners of the past, winners prefer working in the changing present toward the unpredictable future. The trouble with some people is that they are planning only for the unforeseeable time to come and not facing the reality now.
Paradoxically, the future is now. It is more realistic to regard life as an awareness of the present rather than a prediction beyond knowledge. Since the future is anybody's guess, "one today is worth two tomorrows," to quote Benjamin Franklin. Therefore, the way we live and the way we work ought to keep in step with the present leading to the future. The logic may be that we can only learn from the past, and on the other hand the future does not affect us now as much as does the present. It also makes sense that the way to plan tomorrow is to enjoy living and working as wisely and beautifully today as possible.
Our argument for focusing on today may as well be based on the fact that the present does not sit still for a portrait, but is changing constantly. Change being the law of life, concentrating our mind on what is happening in the present is probably more true to life than dreaming of the future. It means that life for us today is always becoming and never being. Obviously, today has its own problems to be solved, so there is no need to be over troubled about the future. Accordingly, it is better not to foresee the future but be concerned about taking care of the present. It is one thing to prefer planning for the future, but it is quite another to control the change that follows soon enough.
Focusing on the present is more important than merely planning for the future because right now is one of the moments we are influencing our future. Practically, we should see the future in the present which carries more weight in real life. It stands to reason that the future actually begins now.
