| The Best of Jack’s Winning Words 7/29/24 – Originally sent March 14, 2018. “My interest is in the future, because I’m going to be spending the rest of my life there.” (Charles Kettering) This quote was often used in Kettering speeches until he died in 1958. He was one of America’s great inventors, particularly in the auto industry. With his inventor’s mind he foresaw the future as a wonderful place to live. If he was alive today, would he agree? Although there can be fear about the future, we can live a more satisfying life by enjoying today and looking forward to tomorrow. 😉 Jack |
Sadly, too many people get caught up in looking back at their past, usually with regrets. One can easily get sucked into the abyss of “Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda” and waste the future away by becoming fixated on what might have been. Instead, focus on what is and what is yet to come. Live in the moment and anticipate the future.
An interesting phenomenon that I associate with getting old is the foreshortening of the future. When one is in their youth or even the early years of adult life, thinking about what one might be doing when they hit 95 seems so far away as to be ridiculous to even consider. Now, at age 80, thinking about being 95 seems close at hand and worthy of some planning. Being 95 years old is not something that is too far off in the distance to waste time on. It is just around the corner. What do I want to be doing by then does not seem as ridiculous to contemplate and helps to encourage goal setting.
As for me. I was happy to wake up this morning with a whole day ahead of me. I have things that I need (or want) to get done. I’m also in the midst of things that will take a while and have thoughts about things that I haven’t started yet , but would like to do. I can see the age 95 from here and look forward to experiencing that birthday, but there’s lots to do between now and then.
For me it helps to have a faith that I can tap into from time to time – a faith that says there is life after death. That makes what lies beyond 95 seem a lot less scary. Fear is often the biggest thing that holds us back from living life to the fullest. Once you can overcome the fear of death through faith you can live each day to it’s fullest no matter how many you have.
It really doesn’t matter how old you are. You need to answer the question posed by the title to this post. Where do you want to spent the rest of your life? Will you get stuck in the past or will you continue to look ahead to the future? Your answer to that question will dictate the quality of life that you will have in that future.
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