I was taught as a kid, as I suspect a lot of us are, that our choices determine our future successes, path, failures, options, etc.  And sure, there’s some roads that will be blocked from certain choices (such as poking out your own eyes, eating too much sugar, or getting a degree in Food Science) but most of the time you can find yourself where you need to be no matter what you choose.  These choices are life-altering, yes.  You will do certain things and not others depending on which university you go to, if you go to university at all, where you work, if you work at all, who you know, what you know, etc. but you you’ll still have the chance of a good life.  You get to choose every second of every day who you are, what you want to do, who you want to be, and that’s no dependent on choices you made years ago or even last week.  It’s only the details of the story will be different.

So quit worrying about where you’re going to be in 5 years, start enjoying where you are now, and just keep an eye open for something interesting going your way.

Still, there’s the fear that everything is going to go to pot, if it hasn’t already.  That somehow we’re mucking everything up.  Well, what exactly do you think you are doing that is going to cause everything to muck up?  And what exactly is so bad about mucking up anyway?  Isn’t it all just change, the unexpected?  Do any plans work out they way you thought they would?  Do we survive anyway?  If I sit an answer these questions honestly I realise that I’m not screwing everything up but doing exactly what I should be doing.  I give a damn about other people, I try to do the right thing, and after that there’s not a great deal I can control.

So quit worrying about the future, enjoy the now and let go and allow it all to happen.  It’s going to anyway.

Want to see more? Try one of these posts:

• Living in the past
• Following a thread as far as I can
• Where I release my agoraphobia of the mind