Planning ahead, whether to the next week or the new year, always has me asking a familiar question: what do you want?
That's a question that propels me into the future, a place where it's easy to live, where there's endless potential and where anything is possible but nothing really happens, that place where we can pretend to make choices and pretend to know their consequences but experience the truth of neither.
Imaginary choices have no real consequences.
Life doesn't happen in the future. It happens here, today. Life is an adventure made one day at a time. How you spend your days is how you spend your life. The next week, the next month, the next quarter, and the next year are all made up of days.
What choices can I make today that will positively influence my future?
If that question propels you back into future-thinking, bring yourself back to the present by asking "What's next, right now?" The answer doesn't need to be perfect. It just needs to be good enough, for now.
It was nice seeing your email in my inbox.
The question you pose caught me as I was having some tea 🍵 waiting for the year to end.
I’m jotting down some notes, I’ll update after I think about it a bit.
Here is to a memorable 2023 🍵
Miles! It’s great to hear from you! Here’s to a memorable today. 🙂
The future is believing in Jesus Christ. And if you do you’ll have everlasting life Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Thank you for stopping by Grandma and Grandpa Dan!
Thank you for sharing this. I’m always living in the future. This reminds me of staying here in the present.
You’re most welcome, Felipe! I also have a habit of living in the future, always thinking about “what’s next? where am I going?” and often forgetting that I can’t really go anywhere or do anything without taking a step in the now. 🙂
Very true. I find myself going down rabbit-holes on in the internet when looking at possibilities for the future. Sometimes you need to realize that you can’t change your future if you don’t do something today – not tomorrow – but today.
Best wishes from Washington (state).
Thanks for the comment, Piers. We cannot expect different results by doing the same thing over and over. As Albert Einstein said, “If you want different results, do not do the same things.”
Imaginary choices have no consequences. This is such a simple statement that also keeps us in check when we judge others on how they are living their lives.
That’s such a good point! We also need to remember that nobody believes they’re doing the wrong thing: the actions of another may seem ‘wrong’ to us, but we need to remember that we don’t stand in their shoes. Rather than judge, we should seek empathy and understanding led by curiosity.