The reality of your future

I’ve heard people say, “You have to see your future before you can have it.” Now the teaching is that you have to feel it before you can have. Well, I’m not here to argue about the effectiveness of these methods. However, I concur that the future is real.

Most people dream a lot when they are young. I can say that this is usually as a result of the enthusiasm and the opportunities young people have. But why do most of the dreamers never wake up from their dreams? I can bet that only a handful of people have really become what they dreamed to become.

So what stands between us and the future we want to have? I have realised that rarely does the lack of opportunities prevent people from having a wonderful future. I know people who stay in houses with gyms but are out of shape although they wish to be in shape.

I had colleagues who dropped out of school not because they couldn’t pay their fees. Although opportunities, money and other essential resources are crucial to having the future we want, they are not the only things needed.

The future we hope for is but a reality we stand a chance of experiencing. Although, we cannot predict it, we can create it. According to Abraham Lincoln, “the most reliable way to predict the future is to create it.” One day, a gentleman told his friends that he was going to give himself a vacation at the end of the month.

He said that he’d really relax and have some good food. The month ended and just when he took his salary, he had an emergency and had to use a great chunk of his salary to solve the problem. He had a lot of confidence that he’d go on a vacation because he didn’t anticipate the emergency. The emergency had come and the future (vacation) he had predicted was not possible.

He couldn’t afford the vacation so he came home, took a cold shower, ordered food and drinks and decided to watch a movie. Fast forward, although he couldn’t go on the vacation, he created his own vacation.

So if the future we wish for can be created, how do we create it then? Well, I think it’s a thoughtful question to ask, but to answer it let’s establish a few points:

If our future is a corollary of our creation, then we have what it takes to create it. This means that until we take total responsibility, we can’t have the future we want. Enough of blaming our shortfalls on our parents, the governments and everything around us. We only have what it takes to determine our future.

If our future is a corollary of our creation, then we can have the future we want. Because we only can create our future, we have the sole right to determine the kind of future we want for ourselves. It may seem crazy to others but if that’s what you want it’s fine. “In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility”- Eleanor Roosevelt.

If our future is a corollary of our creation, it means that we’ll need guidance in creating a masterpiece. Thankfully, the future we wish for is nothing new under the sun. People have achieved far greater feats or far lesser feats than we desire. All of these people have rich lessons to help you perfect the craft of your future.

Neglecting them is accepting to make avoidable mistakes. “Show me a successful individual and I’ll show you someone who had real positive influences in his or her life. I don’t care what you do for a living—if you do it well I’m sure there was someone cheering you on or showing the way. A mentor.” — Denzel Washington.

The future can be likened to a well-painted picture. The creation of the picture requires the joining of dots and lines etc.- the compounding effect. Begin by having an idea of what you want it to look like.

some erasing at a point but it’s fine. You may have to pause for a while but that’s fine. You may have to start all over again but it’s fine. The goal is to create the picture you have in mind and let nothing be a deterrent.