A FUTURE PICTURED CAN BE CAPTURED

The ability to listen, reflect and work hard in our contemporary society is seemingly on the decrease. Fear overwhelms our anticipations and makes way for pessimism. We are often discouraged by the things that happen around us. Our past and present seem to becloud and prevent us from seeing the future.

The word ‘future' in a way denotes the time after the present. The weight of its application to real life situation carries more than its lexical meaning. For some, the future is a time of expectancy. For some, it is an opportunity for success while for others it is a time of uncertainty. For me, the future is a treasure, it is the untapped, the only balance left in the bank of life. What then do I make out of it? PICTURE IT

Steven Covey tells us that ‘we should start with the end in mind'. No reasonable person sets out on a journey without having a clue of where he is going to and what he is going for. "Without a purpose nothing should be done", said Marcus Aurelius. It is good that you have a goal in life. Your goal comprises what you want to achieve and when. If you don't know what you want, how then will you recognize it when you come by it?

When you begin to ponder on your strengths and weaknesses as an individual and carry out a careful analysis of the things that you can do, you cannot do, what you want to do and you don't want to do, chances are that you are going to rediscover who really you are as a person – or what you really want to become in life or what you really want to happen to your life.

Having a strong grasp, a full and deep comprehension of your potentials as a person – the talents embedded in you, the skills you have learned and mastered and other latent abilities waiting to be discovered, you could start outlining your life over the next two to five years. You need to ask yourself questions like, "where and how do I see myself five years from now?"  Such questions will guide you towards processing a good and stable future.

Set your goals clearly by knowing you passions in life – the kind of things that bring out the best in you and inspires you to work harder. Achieve these goals by drafting a plan of action that will guide you while realizing your dreams. Don't gamble with your life by relying on destiny or fatalism to mold your future. Know yourself and know your wants and needs. Put them all down and begin to work on them. Know the right path to take as you take a plunge into life, exploring possible opportunities.

It is always good to choose and decide because imitation they say is a limitation. "We are the choices we make," writes Carlos G. Valles. Therefore one must take the bold steps to choose a thing out of the abundance in life. You can make something out of nothing though ex nihilo, nihil fit. You can make something great no matter how small it seems. Say to Yourself: ‘this is what I want to be, this is how my contribution to the society would look like' – and you are already there. CAPTURE IT

Commitment to our definite purpose and defined goals is very important in our pursuit. In picturing your future you have created a vision. Work towards your vision. A mission is a vision acted upon. No matter the grandeur of an edifice like the architect's plan, if it is not constructed and translated into real life, the efforts already made tantamount to nothing. We are not only the architects of our own future as Abraham Lincoln postulated, we are also the builders.  The right action is needed for our plans to be fulfilled and our goals brought to fruition. To succeed is not without difficulty. You must endure the pain so that you might as well enjoy the gain.

The concept ‘capturing' as used this context climaxes at the fulfillment that one enjoys when he succeeds in a given goal.  Often times, we are left disillusioned even after getting what we most longed for; once the shiny new car is bought and standing in the driveway you find that the feeling you thought you would get is simply not there. The same with the big house you worked so hard to get. On another note, once a friendship is contracted between two lovers the desire begins to wane than when they were apart longing for each other.  You are proud of those things but other than that being elated, it leaves you almost cold. But what really would be my attitude when I enter the future, when I attain the position or when I attain the goal which I am ‘dying' for? Would I hold it precious and still see meaning in it?

There is however a way that we can get that overwhelming feeling of fulfillment that makes us feels good all over. We have to make it long lasting and consistent.  It can be through a recollection of what motivated you to achieve such ends or feats. Feeling good over what we have accomplished is deep, lasting and cherished a life time. It is a feeling of personal significance, which cannot be achieved unless we have the feelings that we are all that we can be and that we are expanding and growing as individuals.