by Donna Carroll Batton

Created on: June 26, 2010

The future – it’s something we all contemplate.  What will tomorrow bring?  Though we may have plans and anticipations, none of us knows exactly what will happen the next day, or hour, or even the next second.

 Age has a lot to do with how we look at the future.  When we were young children we looked forward to the excitement of growing older, being big enough to ride on the big roller coaster, summer vacation and having fun.

As we got older, the future began to take on more serious connotations; passing to the next grade in school, finding the right college, what career path to choose.  The older we got the more people became involved in our future.

 Reaching adulthood meant mapping out a plan for our livelihood as we reached the stage of our lives where we no longer depended on our parents or guardians to support us.  And, commonly, it also meant choosing a mate with whom to walk into the future.

The older we get, the more the concept of “future” changes.  We spend the first half of our lives looking forward to it only to suddenly find ourselves becoming increasingly uneasy, even fearful of it.  This is true, especially, in these hard economic times when our country is at war and even our very livelihoods are threatened.

Frequently with age also comes a lessening in the good health we took for granted all those years.  We suddenly find ourselves complaining of little aches and pains we didn’t experience before.  We may even begin to see signs of serious deterioration on some part of our physiology.  Our hearing isn’t what it used to be and we’ve gone from 20/20 eyesight to needing glasses to bifocals and maybe even trifocals.  We find ourselves hunting down the nearest restroom at the mall and avoiding places without such facilities.

Contemplating this gradual change in our perception of the future, we also face the harsh reality that we really have little control over it anyway.  No matter how much we prepare for it – how hard we try to keep fit, financially secure and mentally stable – we have no indication what tomorrow may bring.  We may be fortunate enough to glide into the future fairly unscathed – or the bottom may fall out with the next sunrise.

 Therefore, I proffer the thought that, while making the usual plans for the future, we should put less emphasis on it.  Do what you can toward a happy, secure life but don’t focus on it.  Instead, live in and for today.  Live each day as if it was your last – or close to it.  Don’t save your best china for special occasions.  Don’t put off that family vacation you’ve been dreaming about.  Don’t let arguments between family members and friends fester and grow.  Enjoy your life and each other as much as you can.  Make time for each other and the things you enjoy.

The future is that mysterious, far-off, unreachable place you may never get to.  The present is here and now.  Make it count and enjoy as much of it as possible.

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