Looking forward we can see exactly what is in front of us, but usually, not much more. It’s just like when we punch a location into our GPS – we can’t actually see the destination, or for that matter even any of the steps to get there, we just have to fully believe that every action this little device tells us to do will lead exactly to where we want to go.
So what we do is trust in our little GPS, that each move we make, every wind and turn, will lead us to the right place. That we can get to a destination, look back and see that everything came together in the end. All the dots connected.
We can think a lot about what is ahead of us, and we do. We can worry about whether we are ‘on the right track’, and we do. We can dream, and we do. We can stop for moments of reflection, and sometimes we do that too. It’s in those moments that we can truly stop to see how the dots somehow came together. They wove and wound themselves into a piece of art that someway ended up connecting in the end.
If you are anything like me, the daunting questions about the future can often bring with it a level of apprehension. Is there a standard scale we should be using to make sure we are on track for buying a house on time (or ever), getting married at the right age (whatever that is), landing a job or having a successful career? The list is never ending, but the question remains:
Are we doing enough?
I don’t have a scale to see if I am ‘on track’ for the life chapters that the world has laid out for me and you. I also don’t have a button I can use to stop myself from worrying. What I do know with full certainty, is that every time I have paused to reflect, I’ve been exactly in the right spot. Everything had transpired for good reason, I would even use the cliché term ‘they happened exactly how they were meant to’.
Though we can’t see the future, we can see the now. We can periodically stop to reflect on how we are spending our time.
If you fail to study history you are doomed to repeat the errors of the past.
Is the time we spend productive in some way or how? Are we encouraging ourselves and those around us to continue to grow, learn, and strive? Does our life include the people we love and the things we love to do? Do we actively try to get outside of our comfort zone?
If we can focus on that, I think we’ll do okay.
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” – Steve Jobs
Thanks, Steve.
Sara
