Many of us desperately want to be able to see the future. We want to know if our hopes and dreams will come true .  And we want assurances that our worst fears will not come to pass.  But none of us can foresee the future. So, instead of constantly wondering what lies beyond the horizon, shouldn't we concentrate on what lies clearly at hand?  There are so many things that need to be done today, and there are so many pleasures available to us now. 

When we take a trip, we don't try to see the entire route as we travel along. Attempting to do so would be both futile and dangerous. Instead, we focus only on that portion of the road that lies directly ahead of us.  We never know what we'll find just around the next curve in the road, or just over the next hilltop.  That's one of the true joys of traveling.  We're often surprised at what we encounter as we travel along. A trip would be very dull if we knew in advance exactly what we would see along every stretch of highway.

Shouldn't our journey through life be much the same? Isn't life more exciting when we don't know what the future holds?  There may be some disappointments ahead, and maybe even some real heartaches.  But we can all hope that we'll have a lot more joys than sorrows as the years come and go.

There are some things we can do to increase the chances of a bright future.  We can plan, and we can exercise good judgment in today's decisions.  But there is so much that is beyond our control. There will be many bridges to cross as we journey through life.  Some will be easy, and some not so easy.  But we can't cross any of these bridges until we get to them.  Perhaps if we concentrate most of our attention on getting across the bridges that lie just ahead of us, we will develop new skills that will enable us to cross the more difficult bridges that may lie ahead.         

Whether we are considering what we can do for ourselves or what we can do for others, shouldn't our time frame be the present instead of the future?  There are so many things we can do to make our lives happier and more productive, and we don't have to wait until tomorrow to initiate most of these things.  Also, today offers many opportunities to make life better for those around us.  A simple smile, an unsolicited compliment, and many other potential acts of kindness are ours to give away any time we choose.  Doesn't it make sense to keep ourselves busy doing what lies clearly at hand, instead of trying to see what lies dimly at a distance? 

Copyright 2014 Allen Smith

TB-49—Posted 05/28/2014