The Wisdom of Insecurity

A Reflection. Week 14

Alan Watts wrote this book in the 1950s, at a time where he thought people were becoming too anxious of their future. I wonder what he would say to the people of our time. See, if you were to compare the anxiety levels of a psychiatric patient in the 1950s to the anxiety levels of today’s high school students, you would find them to be the same.

Alan Watts did a fantastic job of breaking down insecurity of the future and what that means for the present. The future is always going to be insecure. No one can know what will happen in the future. We can certainly plan for the future and take steps to make our vision happen, but what Alan Watts is talking about is when people begin to develop anxiety over what the future holds.

Imagine as you are reading this piece, that you begin to think “I am reading this piece.” That would take away from your reading and the pleasure behind it. If you are going to watch a movie, and the entire time you are thinking, “I am in a cinema watching a movie”; that would take away from the pleasure of actually watching a movie. Similarly, to think about the future beyond its necessity is cutting out what the present holds.

If every action was done with the sole purpose of receiving pleasure in the future, then you would never have true satisfaction. To continuously think about tomorrow as to ignore today will keep you in limbo because when tomorrow comes, that will be today and then the following day will be tomorrow.

Again, Watts isn’t saying ignore the future. On the contrary, give the future its due right, plan for it, and put in the work today in order to make that future come true. Watts is saying that you enjoy the work you are putting in today. As many others have said, “enjoy the journey not the end.” Stressing about what the future holds does not do any good. Working towards the future where you are enjoying the work put in, thats how you remove unnecessary anxiety.

I certainly recommend this book. It was beneficial for people back in the 1950s, and even definitely beneficial to people today. Learn to fully enjoy the present and remove anxiety about the future. Check out my collection where i am reading 52-books this year. Next up: Remote: Office Not Required, by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson.