Hi, and welcome back to your Daily Mindfulness. In today's session we're going to talk about anticipation of the future and whether or not you should practice focusing on a positive outcome or a negative outcome. So I think when many people put down thinking about the positive. The one argument is that, well, it's irrational. It's irrational to just be thinking about positive outcomes all the time, because we also need to think about what can go wrong, the potential negative outcomes.

And there's of course an argument for this, but I want to be really clear about something. Anticipating a negative outcome is just as irrational as anticipating a positive outcome because you really don't know what will happen. And or whether whatever does happen is perceived as positive or negative in the short-term or the long-term. So some say it's important to focus on the positive. Others say it's important to focus on the negative.

Some say you should focus on a combination of both and others still would say you shouldn't focus on any outcome, just be present in the moment. Well, I say there are many ways to use our mind effectively and to effectively live our lives. If you're trying to feel good, confident, and joyful, you might want to think about the future best case scenario, the positive outcome. You'll most likely notice that this kind of positive thinking can really lift your mood, can mitigate stress and gives you more energy. However, if you're trying to protect someone, a community of people or buffer against some sort of risk in your business, well you might want to think through the negative implications of a particular scenario, such as a certain political choice.

So this sort of negative thinking isn't so much negative, but rather an assessment of a potentially true future reality, which may inspire more important form of action in the present moment. Even if it includes a sense of fear, discomfort and some stress. So we can use imagined potential outcomes to inform a skillful response to our present moment context. And other times you may just want to let go and see how things unfold instead of using future oriented thinking, you just take care of the moment as best you can. The point is it's never as simple as just focus on the positive or just focus on the negative, or just let go of any thoughts about the future.

Mindfulness is more about cultivating an awareness of how your mind works and using that new understanding to be in a wiser relationship to your experience. So as always thank you for your practice and let's settle in for today's meditation.