IS THE FUTURE COMING TOWARDS US … or are we moving towards the future?
I was at an event this week where the speaker posed the perspective that “the future is coming at us.” It gave me pause to wonder.
If the future is coming towards us, our choice is how we deal with what is coming at us. It seems there is not much to prepare for except how to think and respond in the moment.
If we are rather moving towards the future, we feel we have control over that future and can make choices now to influence our future. With our human tendency to predict future possibilities in order to mitigate risk, we often try to predict a future and, often, the future that we predict does not actually materialize. We waste time and energy. However, without planning for the future, we tend to end up in a less than optimal situation.
Perhaps both are happening at the same time. We are moving towards a future that is coming towards us. This brings to mind a picture of running into chaos.
Maybe both are happening simultaneously. The clearer we are about what we want, the more clear we are about what to focus on, filter, and choose in the moment and, thereby, create our future moment by moment given our knowledge, skills and perceptions at that time.
How do we filter, in the moment, to live our optimal life? When we are clear on our values (that is, those things important to us), live our values, know what we want for our lives (including values, goals, learning, resources, boundaries, …), we will filter those things that support these and filter out those that do not. This goes to the importance of having clarity in order to decipher and select the future coming at us or surrounding us. This also goes to the importance of revisiting our values and goals often so that we don’t get caught in automatic pilot mode, missing other wonderful opportunities that may be right in front of our eyes.
How clear are you about who you are, what is important to you, what you want for your life, and how to keep that at top of your priority list for yourself so that you can choose your future you want in the moment?
With warm regards,
Jamie