Although many people seem concerned about the
future, I’ve learned to dread it only one day at a time.
I find that the problem with the future is that it is no
longer what it once was. Things happen so quickly in
today’s world that, when people discuss the future, they
are only projecting forward a few weeks or months. It was not long
ago that the future was about events that were going to occur years
from now. However, either way, I want nothing to do with it, except
to have it unravel before me, moment by moment, without a longrange
perception of what is coming toward me in time. I have
two reasons for this sentiment. First, I’ve found that most of what
I’ve been told about the future ends up being wrong, exaggerated or
irrelevant. Second, I have rarely been able to do anything about it,
even if I have tried, I just don’t seem to have the power to change the
future, whatever it may be.
To me, worrying is nonproductive; and it is as much a waste of
time as regretting what has already happened. Since time is the most
valuable asset I have, any moment squandered on thinking about what
is to come, or what has already occurred, becomes a depletion of the
very thing I cherish most, my time.
Little of the future is new, and much of it is merely the past reentering
through a new gate. The past does repeat itself; just as it
is prologue. We like to think we learn from our mistakes, but we
often repeat them, because we either don’t recognize them in
their new form, or we believe those dangerous words, “This time,
things will be different.” We often say this to delude ourselves into
doing what we want to do, even though we know we shouldn’t.
In taking the future one day at a time, tomorrow is almost always
my busiest day. At the same time, procrastination becomes my
favorite labor-saving device. Of all the wonderful things that I have
not had to do, because they didn’t have to be done now and could
be saved to be taken care of at a future time, which, of course, often
became never, are those distasteful chores that eventually, for one
reason or another, disappeared or became so tardy as to no longer be
necessary.
I don’t worry about how the traffic is going to be, what the weather
will be like, or a million other things that I see and hear other people
obsessing over. “Que Será, Será, whatever will be, will be.” You now
know that Doris Day was one of my philosophy teachers.
When necessary, I do plan ahead; but my plans are always flexible.
I don’t allow myself to be controlled by what I think might happen. I
understand that life is filled with surprises and that they will occur
whether I am prepared for them or not. So, I sail blindly into the
future; although there may be dragons there before me. Then again,
who knows? They may turn out to be my friends. Thank God for
the present. It allows me to enjoy those moments between the past
and the future, which is where I choose to spend my life.
I’m not myself today and everybody has noticed the improvement 41