Anticipatory Joy

When Dreams of the Future Bring Joy to the Present

BY: T. Franklin Murphy | July 24, 2020

A dance of lights entering a partially open door. A Flourishing Life Society article on anticipation of a joyful future.

Adobe Stock Images

We can find joy in the present through luscious ruminations over wonderful things to come. Anticipatory joy can bring light to the dreary present.

The last few years of my career were a challenge. The work lost its sparkle. Perhaps, the long hours robbed the joy from an otherwise satisfying career. I trudged forward, imagining the grandness of retirement. I discovered a beautiful valley at the foot of the Sierra mountains. This, I thought, will be my retirement home. I researched dog breeds and trucks to accompany the dream home. The future looked bright. The anticipated pleasures lightened burdens in the moment and reenergized my soul.

We time travel. Our minds drift back to the past and leap to the future. These cognitive journeys then influence the present. Episodic thinking vividly creates imaginings of future events or recreates past joys and sorrows. Our thinking is a powerful tool, inviting present moment joy, intense anxiety, and sorrow. We have measured control over mental wanderings. We direct time travelling reflections through conscious intervention, utilizing cognitive journeys to past and future to benefit our lives.

Episodic Thinking: vivid remembering past events or imagining experiences that might occur in the future.

Episodic thinking does more than distract. It has a functional purpose. The past holds wisdom; keys to healthy living. We create our lives through intentional action that is guided both by wisdom from the past and hope for the future. Research discovered that anticipated emotions from future events significantly impacts intentions to perform. If we expect a positive emotion from a hopeful achievement, we are inclined to work towards that goal (Hallford, Farrell, & Lynch, 2020).

We create our lives through intentional action that is guided both by wisdom from the past and hope for the future.

Anticipated pleasure also impacts the present feeling experience. Often by anticipating pleasure, we ignite positive emotions in the moment—anticipatory pleasure. Anticipated pain also has a present moment correlate. What we think, therefore, matters.

While episodic thinking is linked to benefits such as planning, problem-solving, and spatial navigation, it also impacts functioning in negative ways, polluting our mind with unnecessary anxieties and nagging guilt. These negative energy flows may inhibit action. Many pathologies are compounded by misguided and incessant ruminations.

Anticipated Pleasure: the expected pleasure from a future event.

Anticipatory Pleasure: the in-the-moment pleasure experienced when imagining a future event.

We are instinctively programmed to attend to threats first. Naturally, avoiding death, from a survival stand-point, is more important than eating a fine dinner tomorrow. We can enjoy our dream vacation any year; but must avoid the crazed driver swerving in and out of our lane right now. Biological inheritance defines our range of sensitivity. Environmental conditioning also plays a leading role.

When fundamental beliefs see the world as dangerous, we habitually think to protect, visualizing disasters, while only enjoying an occasional glimpse of hope for something better. Vague hopes neither motivates action nor stirs anticipatory pleasure. The relief of avoided tragedy perpetually rewards protective thinking through negative re-enforcement—the bad event doesn’t happen.

While wild protections reward with some measly gains, the lack of growth goes unnoticed. We stagnate, never moving beyond our reoccurring woes. The world remains dangerous and we remain vulnerable.

We can’t wait for change; this haphazard thinking system seldom spontaneously develops. Our childhoods often fail to condition our minds to flourish as an adult. We must intervene. We have the amazing ability to change trajectories. We can purposely create helpful narratives from past trauma, while simultaneously stimulating vivid imaginations of a better future. New versions of old episodic memories can spring us forward, giving life to worthy hopes. We can stimulate thought.

Daniel Gilbert wrote, “We look into the future so that we can make predictions about it, we make predictions about it so we can control it.” He continues, “The fact is that human beings come into the world with a passion for control, they go out of the world the same way, and research suggests that if they lose their ability to control things , any point between their entrance and their exit, they become unhappy, helpless, hopeless, and depressed” (2007, p. 22).

The problem with thinking is we’re poor predictors. We may imagine positive futures while remaining ignorant to the necessary requirements to realize the dream. We may enjoy visions of a wonderful retirement but neglect to fund that dream from our current paycheck. We enjoy the prospect of a new truck without considering the negative affect of making the monthly payment.

We must refine episodic thinking to serve our presents (anticipatory emotions) and enhance futures (problem solving, planning). While the world occasionally surprises with unsuspecting gifts, we shouldn’t plan future joys around unlikely events, dependent on outside forces (see The Universe is not Your Servant). We must ditch most of these fruitless imaginations. Too much reliance on uncontrollable events leads to disappointment. We will be unprepared and stunned. We shouldn’t waste the present dancing in an imaginary future that is disconnected from reality and some personal control. Eventually, when dreams fail, we likely will slide into the “unhappy, helpless, hopeless, and depressed” state that Gilbert warned about.

We must adorn our hopes with the jewels of reality, seeking guidance from those that previously travelled the path to our desired future. We learn wisdom from their experience (see Accepting Feedback). Inside knowledge prepares us for the struggles, and sound advice helps us navigate around possible mistakes. Reality based future thinking enhances what Richard Snyder refers to as willpower and waypower (2003). Willpower is the motivation and waypower is the knowledge. Together willpower and waypower create self-confidence to achieve (see Hope Theory).

Another common mistake is focusing on the wrong future event. We muse over the difficulty but miss the long-term blessing. The hopeful sixteen-year old may focus on the shame of failing a driver’s test instead of the rewarding freedom of a license. The balance of focus critically impacts the motivation of engagement or avoidance. Our thoughts are often prophetic (see Thoughts). Out attention invites the consequence.

The balance of focus critically impacts the motivation of engagement or avoidance.

We must not underestimate the power of thought. Our thoughts drive action, giving life to dreams and mobilizing information from the past. We can harness this power and avoid the pitfalls of painful rumination. Healthy thoughts drive us towards the futures we desire, while enhancing our presents with anticipatory pleasure.

As for me, I still haven’t moved to that serene valley at the foot or purchased my Ram 1500 but still find pleasure from a vivid imagination of these dreams somewhere in my future. Other dreams, however, such as my retirement, have come to pass. I now enjoy the fruits of preparation, action, and sacrifice. Yes, there are still unplanned surprises—there always will be. But my anticipated joys that stimulated anticipatory joy now partially exist in the reality of the present.

Please support FLS with a share:

T. Franklin Murphy

Wellness. Writer. Researcher.
T. Franklin Murphy has a degree in psychology. He is dedicated to the science of wellness. In 2010, he began publishing his findings.