[viva]

I feel like all of my life is lived in the future and it robs me of the ability to appreciate what's happening now.

I am consistently detached from the present moment, as if half of me is floating about five feet ahead of myself and the other half is trapped inside my brain.

Thoughts of what's to come constantly consume me, and I often forsake enjoying the present moment in order to daydream about the future-- which I frequently don't enjoy as much when whatever it is I'm daydreaming about actually happens.

It kind of feels like my life is one big waiting game-- it has always felt that way. But I don't want to wait anymore... I want to just be.

I have no idea how to go about changing it.

 

[Dark NiTe]

Yeah I often feel like I'm not really able to focus on the present, like I'll be enthusiastic about something, and then my interests will move on to something else before I can really even commit to it. I also feel like life is passing me by while I'm waiting for things I believe will come, but probably won't.

 

[owlet]

I definitely have this. The only thing you can do to stop it is to be very aware of your thought patterns and try to consciously stop yourself. I've had to do this especially for tests in university, as I have a lot and keep thinking ahead to the one next week rather than the one tomorrow (as an example). This could have obviously had negative effects, thankfully I caught myself early.

 

[Mulberries]

Yep. As an example, I've been to some of the most beautiful places in the world and I've never been able to stay in the moment long enough to actually enjoy them. I'll be sitting there with a mountain and a sunset and I'll be thinking about careers, relationships, my health, next week, retirement...anything that isn't that scene of beauty right in front of me.

The same can be said for any other "fun" activity- sex, dining out, dating. My mind is always somewhere else.

 

[aconite]

I feel like all of my life is lived in the future and it robs me of the ability to appreciate what's happening now.

I am consistently detached from the present moment, as if half of me is floating about five feet ahead of myself and the other half is trapped inside my brain.

Thoughts of what's to come constantly consume me, and I often forsake enjoying the present moment in order to daydream about the future-- which I frequently don't enjoy as much when whatever it is I'm daydreaming about actually happens.

It kind of feels like my life is one big waiting game-- it has always felt that way. But I don't want to wait anymore... I want to just be.

I have no idea how to go about changing it.

My ability to focus on present is much better than it used to be - mostly because I started drawing from life. Of course, my mind tends to drift, but if I want to produce a decent work, I can't let myself be distracted. I need to see as much as possible, understand what I'm seeing, record and reproduce. This is the thing I love the most, my strongest passion - drawing from imagination is fun, but anyone who wants to be an artist just has to draw from life. So, maybe you can find a skill that engages your senses and focus on improving that?

 

[LiquidLight]

Generally perceiving things or focus on a moment other than that which is present would loosely relate to intuition. But we shouldn't take this as far as to say only Intuitives can or would do this. The inferior Ni or Ne of a Sensation type could easily put them in a space where they were focused on the future or the past or the what ifs or possibilities too. Si-doms to me strike me often as very future focused in their own way (perhaps some of the most ardent people who worry about something like say Climate Change or the future implications of the national debt, might well be Si-doms because their inferior Ne might spell out very negative scenarios).

 

[SilentScream]

Correct me if I'm wrong ... it would also depend on what exactly about the future one is focusing on ...

If Ne is in any position other than the dominant or aux, then a person will more likely consider negative possibilities, negative consequences - and have an inability to see anything positive. This is something commonly seen in stressed and emotionally embattled ESxJ's specifically where if they try to focus solely on all the what could's, they can barely see the positives and mainly see the negatives.

 

[TaylorS]

That sounds very Ne, to me. Jung mentions that Ne-Doms tend to notice the actual object only in so far that it serves the possibilities, then quickly loses interest when the object no longer serves the possibilities.

Generally perceiving things or focus on a moment other than that which is present would loosely relate to intuition. But we shouldn't take this as far as to say only Intuitives can or would do this. The inferior Ni or Ne of a Sensation type could easily put them in a space where they were focused on the future or the past or the what ifs or possibilities too. Si-doms to me strike me often as very future focused in their own way (perhaps some of the most ardent people who worry about something like say Climate Change or the future implications of the national debt, might well be Si-doms because their inferior Ne might spell out very negative scenarios).

Jung mentions in Psychological Types that Si often perceives things in a timeless way as a "million-year-old consciousness" would see them.

 

[The Great One]

I feel like all of my life is lived in the future and it robs me of the ability to appreciate what's happening now.

I am consistently detached from the present moment, as if half of me is floating about five feet ahead of myself and the other half is trapped inside my brain.

Thoughts of what's to come constantly consume me, and I often forsake enjoying the present moment in order to daydream about the future-- which I frequently don't enjoy as much when whatever it is I'm daydreaming about actually happens.

It kind of feels like my life is one big waiting game-- it has always felt that way. But I don't want to wait anymore... I want to just be.

I have no idea how to go about changing it.

Yes, I feel the exact same way.