When were standing at a crossroads, the paths diverging in front of us, it can be hard to know which way to go.
Our vantage point is limited. Our perspective only lets us see as far as the first bend in the road.
Operating with partial knowledge of what really lies ahead in either direction, we’re faced with a choice…
And unless we choose carefully, there’s every chance our decision will be the wrong one.
While we can’t see any further than our eyes reach, we can think as far as our minds can take us.
We possess the ability to forecast. To imagine. To envision.
Wielded well, these capacities can set us free: bridging the gap between what we know and what could soon be ours… If we have the strength to make the journey.
But wielded poorly, those same skills can lead us astray. They possess the potential to condemn us to a wasted, wasting march – one that takes us from a place of limitless possibility to a limited, meagre outcome (one we never would have chosen in hindsight).
Sometimes, luck goes against us…
But other times, our suffering is our own doing.
We prioritise what’s comfortable in the here & now over what we know is best for our long-term development.
We choose happiness today over fulfillment tomorrow.
We shy away from labour – and in doing so, create future obligations we won’t be able to avoid.
We don’t do this consciously. It happens beneath our awareness, at the behest of a mind that’s looking out for us in the way it knows best…
But intention and outcome are two different things.
It doesn’t matter why we make the wrong choice. Wrong is wrong, and leads us to a worse place than we’d find if we travelled a more appropriate path.
The solution is not to abandon our ability to forecast… But to embrace it.
Next time you’re contemplating taking a particular action, go beyond considering how it plays out immediately after you commit to it.
Take that action to its logical conclusion.
Left unchecked – no deviation from that course, no adjustment of the trajectory – where will it take you?
What future is it compounding towards?
What world is it building?
These aren’t questions we implicitly know the answers to. Not consciously, at least.
But when we ask them, and we bring their subject matter into conscious awareness, we’re confronted with reality:
Full view of where we’re headed. Our own role in creating this. And the responsibility to wield that capacity for all it’s worth.