The Ride | Teen Ink

The Ride

May 20, 2013
By rbelson GOLD, Hartland, Wisconsin
rbelson GOLD, Hartland, Wisconsin
15 articles 0 photos 1 comment

The future. To be honest, it’s an intimidating, frightening, scary, intense, loaded word. We have been preparing for the future practically since birth. We learn things we will need to know later, we experience things good and bad that builds our character, we learn society’s expectations and mold ourselves to the standards. As humans, we all jump through these hoops for one main reason: the future. Since as long as I can remember, people have always told me that everything I do will impact my future. In an essence they are correct, every action that I take or do leads to a reaction. But yet, even those events escape quickly into my past. New is the normal when life does not stand still. So if every second that will happen is my future which becomes my present, then it is safe to say my present and future are one in the same. I have dedicated much time to work for bettering my future, from studying for a test to learning to play a sport. All these precautionary measures are taken to raise my chances of possibly improving somewhere down the line. Yet while I am taking the time to work towards a better future I am sacrificing my now. Do not get me wrong, I realize that everything needs a precursor in either work, skill or knowledge but time being spent preparing is time taken away from doing. The preparation all done for a chance of the goal happening, but if you were actually actively working towards the goal in the present then it is a greater chance it may be done. The thing about the future is that anything can happen. In a split second one’s world may be turned upside down and all of the preparation can go useless and the time taken forever lost. This is why I strongly believe in not only having and working towards goals but also enjoying now. Spend some time preparing but also act. By accomplishing now the time that you use is no longer wasted, even if the rest of the preliminary work towards the future goals turns useless. My philosophy brought me to believe that yes, the future might be intimidating, frightening, scary and intense but thats only because I was afraid of the changes it may bring. Scared of losing all my work, connections, or goals; I allowed myself to see the future as bad. However, the change that unknown brings is what opens the doors so to say and presents opportunities to act. It is these opportunities which we take now that shapes who we are and what we do. Right now I plan on attending college, which one I don’t know yet and my major is unknown also. My goal is to live a happy life collecting memories which will ultimately speak to my character and memory when I am gone. I want to impact the world and I can do this in some grand way, well that would be quite frankly amazing. However, if dramatic heroines isn’t in my future than my mere essence of being here like everyone else on the planet will be how I changed the world. It is this vagueness that allows different opportunities lead me down unthought of paths. Yet, in the same light my goals are specific in the fact that I still have hopes for the future that I wish to turn into accomplished goals. But If for some reason the plan goes haywire, I hope that I have done enough now with the time I already spent. This is why I am going to prepare for the future but also go along for the ride. I will see what lies ahead when I get there but I am going to enjoy the present because I may as well be living my future right now.



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