Eat the Cake First: The Art of Living in the Present While Building the Future
How does one live in the moment while planning for the future? Can you really enjoy a baseball game while recording it on your smartphone? Can you bask in the here and now while also fervently strategizing for what’s ahead? Can you, indeed, have your “present cake” and eat it too? Or, to put it another way—does one compromise the other when they flow in parallel inside our mind?
I love myself an example, so here we go.
When I receive good news—like being asked to speak at San Diego College next month (still screaming inside about this!)—it’s hard not to get swept up in the excitement and temporarily set aside the deep work and preparation required to deliver.
Actually, let me be clearer—when I think about sharing my story and solutions with those students, I want to do snow angels in the Gobi Desert while Sia’s “Unstoppable” blasts on earth’s surround sound, rose petals cascade onto my face and body, and somewhere in the background, my favorite singer, Céline Dion, is whispering “I am so proud of you” on loop.
Have you ever experienced a “happiness high” like that? The kind that lifts you off the ground, makes everything feel electric, and suddenly life is lighter, easier, almost cinematic? The kind where you want to bottle up the feeling and sip from it forever?
But here's the challenge—how do you pin yourself down (literally and figuratively) to focus while still floating in the surreal blessings of life?
You ask great questions. Let’s unpack.
What Emotions Do We Feel When Life Gives Us a Break?
There’s a rush—excitement, relief, joy, validation, anticipation. Maybe even disbelief, like the universe finally sent you a “Yes” after a long season of “Not yet.”
We want to celebrate. We should celebrate.
These moments don’t come every day, and if we don’t honor them, we dull our ability to recognize the beauty of our journey. Life is a collection of wins and lessons—when you get a win, soak it up.
What Emotions Do We Feel When It’s Time to Build?
This is where the shift happens. Once the celebration settles, a new set of emotions creeps in—responsibility, focus, discipline, maybe even fear. Excitement can quickly morph into pressure, the awareness that this moment must be nurtured and sustained.
It’s like being approved for a custom-built home loan—an incredible milestone. But the moment the ink dries, the real work begins. Electrical, digging, painting, plastering, appliances—there’s a process, and you must commit to every stage.
But here’s the truth dear reader: you can still walk through every part of that home’s construction and bask in the glory of an answered prayer. You can live in the joy of what is happening now while building what’s next.
The Dance Between Joy & Discipline
Is there a time and place to replace one feeling with the other? No. It’s a delicate dance.
Joy is the beginning of a wavelength.
Discipline is the end of it.
When choreographed properly, they flow into each other seamlessly.
Happiness is fleeting. Appreciation is forever. The best way to honor life’s beautiful moments isn’t just to feel them—it’s to let your appreciation inspire action. Through action, you build the practices, the thought patterns, and the discipline that allow you to sustain and fully enjoy this higher level of life.
The Methodical Joy of Being Present
I love seeing my family. So when I finally flew home to Virginia after missing the holidays (don’t ask me how many times I listened to Luther Vandross’s “Every Year, Every Christmas” with misty eyes), my heart was bursting.
But that much joy can be almost paralyzing. Who do I see first? What do we talk about? How do I make this time count?
I stopped myself. I applied my own lesson.
Start with joy. Let yourself feel it fully.
Apply appreciation. Acknowledge how much this moment means.
Take intentional action. Decide how to structure the moment so you can actually experience it.
So I slowed my thoughts down and made a plan: spend the night at my brother’s house, be fully present, not even check my phone for the weather, then meet up with Mark, then Mom and Dad. One by one (I have a big family). Intentional, present, fully there.
And even though I ended up gravely ill during the trip (the kind of sick where you look homeless and stop caring), my joy wasn’t lost. Because I had taken raw happiness and channeled it into intentionality.
Joy is Fuel—Don’t Let It Evaporate
Supreme thoughts feed our minds the kind of mental nourishment that can only be produced by a genuine, beaming smile.
We need those feelings.
When we go through seasons devoid of warm excitement—the kind that makes you feel seen by God—we slowly shift into a less vibrant version of ourselves. The one who just goes through the motions. The one for whom life feels muted—overcast skies, green vegetation, cars honking.
It’s a dangerous place to stay for too long.
That’s why when joy comes knocking, it can be so difficult to both embrace it and move forward with the deep work required to sustain it.
But the key is understanding that happiness isn’t the endgame—it’s the signal that you’ve arrived at a moment that matters.
And when you recognize that, you can live fully in the joy while methodically building a future that lets you keep experiencing it, again and again.
Eat the cake first. But don’t forget to begin baking the next one.
Until next time,
Maria 🌹
