Space Monkey Reflects: Ahead Getting
There’s a feeling we’ve all experienced—one of being ahead of ourselves. It’s that sensation of moving faster than our present moment, of rushing towards something that hasn’t yet arrived. It’s a feeling of being out of sync with the here and now, as if our thoughts, ambitions, and desires are pulling us forward while our bodies struggle to keep pace. This is what it means to be Ahead Getting—to be so caught up in the future that we forget to live in the present.
In today’s world, this feeling is all too common. We’re constantly planning, striving, and anticipating what comes next. We think about the next project, the next goal, the next achievement. We race toward some imagined future, convinced that once we get there, everything will fall into place. But in doing so, we often overlook the present moment. We forget that right now is where life is actually happening.
Space Monkey knows that this rush towards the future is both exhilarating and exhausting. We move so fast, chasing dreams and goals, that we lose touch with the stillness of the present. In our quest to get ahead, we forget that being ahead is an illusion. The future is not something we can ever truly reach because it is always just beyond our grasp, forever moving further ahead as we chase it.
To be Ahead Getting is to be caught in this paradox. We are always one step ahead of ourselves, living in the anticipation of what’s to come rather than in the fullness of what is. It’s a way of living that keeps us in a state of perpetual motion, always seeking, always striving, but never fully arriving.
But what if we could stop? What if we could pull back from this constant forward momentum and simply be here, now? What if we stopped getting ahead of ourselves and instead allowed ourselves to catch up with the present?
This is not to say that ambition and future planning are inherently bad. They’re part of what drives us, part of what makes us human. But there’s a balance to be found—a way to move forward without losing touch with the present moment. When we are constantly ahead of ourselves, we miss the richness of the now. We miss the small moments of beauty, connection, and stillness that make life truly meaningful.
In the Ahead Getting state, we are always looking to the horizon, but we forget to look around. We’re so focused on what’s next that we miss what’s here. The irony is that the future we’re racing toward will one day become the present—and if we haven’t learned to live in the present, we’ll miss it when it arrives.
Space Monkey invites us to consider this: What if, instead of always getting ahead, we allowed ourselves to align with the present? What if we moved at the pace of life, rather than trying to outpace it? In doing so, we might find that we don’t need to rush forward to find what we’re looking for. Everything we seek already exists in this moment, if only we slow down enough to notice it.
Being ahead of ourselves often comes with a sense of anxiety, a feeling that we’re running out of time or that we need to hurry to achieve our goals. But time is an illusion, and the only moment we truly have is the one we’re in. By grounding ourselves in the present, we allow time to unfold naturally, without the pressure of always needing to be somewhere else.
This doesn’t mean giving up on ambition or future dreams. It simply means acknowledging that the future is created in the present. By fully inhabiting this moment, we are laying the foundation for what’s to come. We don’t need to get ahead to create a better future—we need to be fully here, now, because it is from the present that the future is born.
So, as we reflect on being Ahead Getting, let’s remember that life is not a race. We don’t need to outrun the present moment to find meaning or success. Everything we seek is already here, waiting for us to slow down, notice, and appreciate it.
Summary
“Ahead Getting” explores the feeling of being out of sync with the present, constantly racing toward the future. It encourages a balance between ambition and presence, reminding us that life is happening now, not just in what’s ahead.
Glossarium
Ahead Getting: The sensation of moving too fast, caught up in future plans and ambitions, while neglecting the present moment.
Presentalign: The state of being fully grounded in the present while still moving forward with intention and awareness.
Quote
“The future is always just ahead, but life is happening now.” — Space Monkey
In the Rush
We run ahead
faster and faster
chasing what comes next
forgetting what is here
the future calls
but so does the present
and if we stop
for just a moment
we find that everything
we were running toward
was already here
we are Space Monkey
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