SAMPLE READING: ADDICTED TO THE FUTURE
A Workbook for Transformation: Rewrite Your Presence. Reclaim Your Power
BY
ELIAS RUBENSTEIN
Most people believe their lives are shaped by the past—by the memories, experiences, and events that have already happened. But there’s an even deeper influence, one hidden beneath the surface, quietly guiding every decision you make: the future. Consider your daily life. How often are your thoughts occupied with plans, expectations, worries, and goals? You imagine scenarios that haven’t happened, anticipate outcomes that may never come true, and fear possibilities that remain distant and unreal. These mental projections, seemingly harmless at first, gradually become powerful enough to shape who you believe yourself to be. Without realizing it, you’ve become addicted—not to your past, but to your imagined future.
Your future addiction doesn’t appear harmful at first glance. After all, isn’t it good to set goals and plan ahead? Yet there’s a subtle trap here. By placing happiness, peace, and fulfillment somewhere ahead of you—in a time that doesn’t yet exist—you deny yourself the reality of living fully right now. Many people focus their attention on a hypothetical future, distancing themselves from the present, believing that once they achieve this or that, all their problems and worries will disappear—but this is a deceptive trap. Every moment spent waiting for tomorrow is a moment lost forever. And yet, many people spend their entire lives in a perpetual state of anticipation, never arriving where they want to be because the future they seek is always just out of reach.
The illusion of the future promises certainty, control, and security. You might believe that if you plan meticulously enough, you can avoid pain, disappointment, and failure. But life rarely unfolds according to plan. When reality deviates from expectations, anxiety floods in. Your mind races with fears about health, finances, relationships, and career. These worries do not protect you—they imprison you. They hold you hostage in a future that has not yet happened, preventing you from truly experiencing the only thing you actually possess: the present moment.
This book is your guide to freeing yourself from this hidden addiction. It will show you how the constant focus on future expectations disconnects you from reality and creates illusions of security and control. More importantly, it will empower you to rewrite your presence—to shift your awareness from future fantasies back into the power and clarity of the present moment.
Time itself is a fascinating illusion. We measure it, chase it, fear losing it, yet rarely understand it. Physics has already revealed what ancient wisdom traditions have long taught: time is relative. It is not the fixed, linear force you believe it to be. Past, present, and future coexist simultaneously within consciousness, yet we experience life sequentially, moment by moment. Because we misunderstand time, we perceive it as something scarce, something to control or conquer. But you cannot control what is inherently intangible and fluid. You can only control how you relate to it. This workbook is about altering your relationship to the future. It’s not about avoiding goals or plans—it’s about breaking free from the emotional grip they have over your life. It’s about recognizing that fulfillment, peace, and joy are states of being you can choose immediately, regardless of circumstances. You don’t need to wait for external conditions to change. The moment you shift your focus from future outcomes to present awareness, your life transforms immediately.
Table of Contents: Addicted to the Future
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Trap of Tomorrow
Escaping the Illusion of Future-Based Living
Escaping the Anxiety Loop
Why Delaying Happiness Never Works
Cultivating the Power of Presence
Chapter 2: The Illusion of Control
Letting Go to Find True Freedom
How Identification with the Future Creates Illusion
Trusting Life’s Flow
Embracing Life as It Unfolds
Chapter 3: Time as an Illusion
Freedom Beyond the Illusion of Linear Time
The Flexible Nature of Time
Freeing Yourself from the Pressure of Time
Breaking Free from Past and Future
Transcending Linear Time
Chapter 4: Goals as Immediate Reality
The Power of Living Your Goal Now
Breaking Free from the Waiting Game
Your Goal is Who You Are, Not What You Achieve
The Energetic Shift
How Goals Can Strengthen Illusion
Chapter 5: Breaking Old Patterns and Choosing Freedom
Releasing the Grip of the Past to Step into True Freedom
The Hidden Patterns That Control Your Future Thinking
The Illusion of a Problem-Free Future
How False Certainty Blocks Growth
Moving from Passive Waiting to Active Creation
Chapter 6: Awakening in the Present
The Reality of the Now
Why the Present Is All That Exists
The Hidden Power of the Subconscious
The Shift from Searching to Being
Becoming the Living Expression of Your Potential
Chapter 7: Beyond the Illusion
The Next Step of Awakening
Living with Inner Wisdom
The Freedom of Being Fully Present
The True Treasure
The Ultimate Shift
Bonus Chapter: Time Is Not Constant or Linear
Further reading
The Path Beyond This Book
