Live Whole Health #233: Predicting the future

One thing I’ve learned about the future is that I’m terrible at predicting it.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve confidently said what would happen—to me personally, to my friends and family, in the country, in the world—and been completely wrong.

Similarly, could you have predicted 20 (or more) years ago where you would be today? Would your younger self be surprised at what your older self is up to now?

There are countless reasons why we’re so bad at predicting the future. One is our default belief that “the way I feel now is the way I’ll always feel,” so we don’t see a future when we’re not sad, angry, anxious, discouraged, and so on. But clearly our feelings change, so even just sleeping on an emotion often makes it different in the morning. Another reason is we’re surprised by things no one could have predicted: a surprising job opportunity, the end of what seemed to be a stable relationship, the death of a loved one, meeting the person who turns out to be your life partner, and so many other “plot twists” we didn’t see coming.

All I know for certain is that the future holds blessings and challenges, joy and heartbreak, excitement and worry, and all the experiences in between. Some of our worst days are ahead of us, but so are some of our best days. We won’t know until they arrive.

Mapping to Our MAP

One of the most important things to keep us going during hard times is knowing our mission, purpose and aspiration (MAP). This video, produced by the War Related Illness and Injury Center (WRIISC) and led by Louise Mahoney, gives you the opportunity to explore these ideas for yourself and develop your own mission and purpose.

This doesn’t stop me from making predictions—that’s something we all do and will continue to do—but it reminds me that I’m usually wrong, so I shouldn’t take my guesses too seriously. It also reminds me to hang on during moments of despair and to fully enjoy moments of grace.