Looking towards the future

What's next?

Everyone plans for the future. In fact we depend upon its presence while living our lives. If not planning for huge things like college and career, some plan for the coming month and some choose to get ahead of their weekly tasks.

Especially, as a student, it is expected of us to take into consideration all of these terms and more. Not only do we need to plan our months and weeks, but we also need to utilize each day, and in contrast also think years ahead. We are constantly reminded, by society, schools, family, etc. that the more organized our future looks, the easier the route to success in life.

To be frank, some days it does make sense to me that the future needs to be taken into consideration, but other days all the planning seems aimless. I can't help but think what a waste it would be if all of this overthinking and planning were in vain? what if I've got a mere day left in my future? and what if I've wasted the time I have in obsessing over 'what next?.'

Which future?

Is it not true that we can all get carried away in making sure our future is stabilized and secure? It's like we want to avoid struggles and uncertainty in our future and in that constant attempt we put our present life on hold.

This concept has never been agreeable to me in all honesty. Why do we subconsciously, or at times even consciously, try to secure something that's not even guaranteed? While chasing security in the future we end up running away from the present. Is planning for the future just an obligation that we assume will benefit us in the long term?

It's a fact that the future isn't promised, and so is it a waste of time to spend the precious today plotting its course.

Having hope

That being said, on the other hand, It often hits me like a ton of bricks that sentiments like ambition, happiness and growth are all solely run on the hope of tomorrow. If you weren't to wake up at all tomorrow , well, it wouldn't require much planning would it?

Hope is our driving force, and thus it is more then essential if we want to strive for growth and betterment. Having hope is to not have certainty of the future, yet preserving the anticipation and excitement for whatever may come. And now if you think of it, planning our future seems more like a stirring activity rather than a stressful one.

There are days where planning the future helps me not fixate excessively on the present, and on those days its really a life saver. When the present isn't looking too pretty, fantasizing about all the possibilities of a future that are waiting for me, helps me see the larger perspective. It reminds me that things will change and that I've got time for them to do so, and at such times, even if it is false hope, hope is needed.

What is hope, if not a word for the will to live. And if you've got that, the future doesn't seem all that staggering, does it?

Conclusion

The essence of this article is not to conclude with a righteous answer to the question of which perspective is better, rather it is quite the opposite. Thinking of and planning for the future can obviously be overwhelming and stressful, perhaps can even seem pointless at times. However clearly these negative sentiments aren't the only ones attached to the thought of the future. Alongside these we have positive sentiments like hope and change which can turn the same dreadful word that is 'future', bring a smile to our faces.

In conclusion, there isn't any one right way to see it, and the only guaranteed thing in this matter is turmoil. On some days the future will seem scary and on other days it will excite us. What is in our hands is to strike a good balance of both outlooks in a way that we get best of both worlds. We can derive hope from anticipation of the future and use it to help us be more structured, and we can use our the uncertainty of the future to remind us to live in the present and pick our battles.

Our future is as much in our hands as it is not, but the way we look at things is entirely up to us.