“The future is always beginning now.”
-Mark Strand, American poet. From the collection Reasons for Moving.
Uncertainty isn’t just a fact of life, it is proof of life. Everything alive changes… sometimes slowly, sometimes suddenly. There are changes we feel in real time and those we only observe in contrast, as when an old photograph from the past surfaces and we marvel at how much was different back then.
We spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about the future. Will the Chinese stock market crash our economy? How long will this drought last? Many of our fears seem to center on things far beyond our control, and yet they occupy a disproportionate amount of our mental energy.
It is strange that we would choose cede control of our mind to conditions we cannot control. This is especially true when there are almost always tangible problems or challenges we could invest our energy in at the present moment.
Take time today to look at your life and ask yourself: What are my real issues? What lies directly before me that I can actually influence? A simple inventory of the real versus the imaginary can have a wonderful clarifying effect on both your to-do list and your mind.
