I'm a future-oriented person.

You might be wondering, "What exactly does that mean?" Good thing you asked; as it just so happens, I learned what this term means in my nonverbal communications class, and I'm going to be "that pretentious college student" for a second here. Being future-oriented means that I organize and spend my time (generally speaking) with future events in mind. I go to bed earlier than most twenty year-olds because I fall asleep considering how early I need to wake up the next day. I go to the gym and try to eat healthily because it will make me stronger the next day and the day after that. I enroll in my classes not thinking, "Is this too many courses?" But rather, "How quickly will this help me enter my desired work field?" How we use and spend our time sends a message to the world.

Who I spend it with, what I spend it doing, and where I enjoy it portrays my priorities. In class, my peers and I discussed what it means to be past, present, or future oriented from our perspectives. After hearing the other sides, I felt pretty pleased with myself. Yeah, I plan ahead; I don't waste my time reminiscing or party it up too much and endanger my future. However, my professor proposed a poignant view:

"Myself and a friend from college were always planning for the future. We strove to do well in college to get into a good grad school. We worked hard in grad school to land a job in our career of choice. We got the jobs we wanted and settled down with our family. But after we found that we had no more major goals to look forward to, we asked each other, 'now what?' We were so focused on future success that we forgot to live."

Her comment caused me to consider, "If I as a Christian will always have something to strive towards, those things being becoming more Christ-like, sharing the gospel, and working for the kingdom, would it be wrong to be present oriented?"

I could be mistaken, but it seems as if the Bible is usually urging us to look up and ahead, rather than down and forward. The main attraction of sin is its instant gratification; generally, the things we aren't supposed to do are pleasing in the present. God knows our future, and He knows what to caution us against. It generally takes training and maturity to learn to analyze how events might unfold in the future, rather than concentrating on the effect they can wield in the moment.

I think it's important to live for the present and enjoy the experiences God gives us. My question is, how do we find a balance between "living it up" while maintaining the mentality that "we are looking forward to a home yet to come" as Hebrews says?

This dilemma is especially difficult for college students. On one hand, I am paying to receive an education that equips me for my future career. However, I am in a unique set of circumstances; college is a freeing era on the verge of adulthood still influenced by the impulsive luster of adolescence; friends are literally at arms length to goof off, travel, and make memories with. Which do I choose? Is it possible to have both? Should I even try to balance being present and future oriented at all?

The part of me who wants to be more present-oriented thinks, "I still have almost two years left of college to figure out the answer to this question. Why stress?" The planning, future-minded, more adulty part also says, "You need to figure this out so you don't waste your time or forget to enjoy the moment!"

In all this, I know that I have the Holy Spirit to guide me moment-by-moment in regards to how and where my time is dedicated. I open this question to all Believers: is it more biblical to be present-oriented, future-oriented or both? Even if you think it doesn't matter, I would love to hear your point of view as to why.