The new year is around the corner, and you are going to hear this question so many times in the coming days, but I can't help by asking. As you know, it's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission, so...
How do you picture the future?
Not only "the" future with a capital F, the one related to the whole world, the planet, global politics, environmental issues, big and sometimes surprising cultural changes happening in real time and more of all this to come, but also your near future and your future in the long run?
Is it something you think about with excitement, fear, curiosity, anticipation or are you totally carefree about the topic and way more worried about what are you going to stream on Netflix next week in order not to get bored already during the first week of the upcoming new year?
For me, how I see "the" future and my future is strongly related to two poetic quotes by William Somerset Maugham [1874-1965] that would probably surprise you.
Let me explain.
What would you think if I would say "Only a mediocre person is always in top form"?
How do you picture the future?
Not only "the" future with a capital F, the one related to the whole world, the planet, global politics, environmental issues, big and sometimes surprising cultural changes happening in real time and more of all this to come, but also your near future and your future in the long run?
Is it something you think about with excitement, fear, curiosity, anticipation or are you totally carefree about the topic and way more worried about what are you going to stream on Netflix next week in order not to get bored already during the first week of the upcoming new year?
[The future is made of light.
Or, like in The Maltese Falcon (1941) by John Huston,
of the "stuff that dreams are made of".
Pics: Me, November 2017
at Berlin's street art museum
Urban Nation © Radoslaw Kosiada]
For me, how I see "the" future and my future is strongly related to two poetic quotes by William Somerset Maugham [1874-1965] that would probably surprise you.
Let me explain.
What would you think if I would say "Only a mediocre person is always in top form"?
How would you describe this affirmation and the effect it has on you?
Funny, totally wrong, insane, absolutely right, inspiring, toffee-nosed, negative, liberating, or...?
It may surprise you, and yet this quote makes me smile every single time I think about it. Why, and how this can be related to the future?
I was sure you would ask. ;)
Well, at least to me, it is once more a beautiful reminder that perception is reality and that we create our own reality every single day through our beliefs and our mental frame. This way, even if saying that only mediocre people can be always in top form can sound like a very snobbish and depressing statement to some people, to me it actually means:
"Depending on how high your personal standards for yourself are, it may be that you are not going to be able to reach them every day, and this is actually a sign that your standards are delightfully high and that's great and it is going to make you a better person, no matter what other people think".
Having high standards can give you guidance, set the bar very high for what you want to be and to accomplish and help you maintaining your focus and improving your life in incredible ways.
If you are willing to accept that you are not going to be able to live up to those standards every single day, day in and day out, 365 days every year.
And this depending on the fact that you, just like me and everybody else, are a human being (or at least I suppose you are, I am guessing here ^^) and therefore you are not perfect nor flawless nor infallible.
Not even you can be 300% motivated and energized and over the top and happy and invincible for 365 days of this year or of the years to come. And that's OK. You are going to have both good days and bad ones, clear days and blurry ones, almost perfect days and "gosh, please let me just go back to bed now" days as well. Just like everybody else.
As long as you accept this, enjoy and push through the good ones and are tolerant and nice to yourself in the bad ones, your high standards are going to make a big difference and to guide you through all pivotal and less pivotal moments of your future, both in the short and in the long run.
To me, it doesn't matter if you are going to reach those fancy standards every day and it doesn't make sense to see as a failure every single time that you are not going to catch up with it.
To me, it is way more significant if you are going to try every single day, to do your best even if you know that the day was not a good one so far, because you know that tomorrow is going to be another day and what you did today will add up eventually.
And here we have the second quote of our good ol' Somerset:
Future is something people start to love when it's in the past.
Tomorrow is the future. Today was your yesterday's future. And tomorrow, the day after tomorrow is going to be your future as well. A far away future... doesn't exist yet.
You are going to create it today. And tomorrow. And the day after tomorrow.
People talking about "the" future like a big, monolithic and unchangeable entity seem to forget that the future is something we create every single day, one day at the time, with the actions, the thoughts and the emotions we go for and we choose for ourselves.
For the upcoming year and the next 365 days of your life, I wish you to have the guts, the boldness, the far-sightedness and, why not?, the craziness, to think about how you want to shape your days and your future through your actions, one small baby step at the time, and to celebrate this other quote as well:
Whatever you decide to do, make sure it makes you happy.
If not all the time, if it is impossible for you because of many commitments, big responsibilities, a family, financial problems or whatever reason may be relevant to you, please try to give yourself at least 15 minutes a day for that.
Even in three rounds of 5 minutes each, in the unfortunate case you should believe that you will never be able to find 15 minutes a day.
If you should tell me that you are not able to find 5 minutes a day three times a day... sorry, I am not going to buy that one. Nice try, though!
At the end of the year, those daily 15 minutes alone would make about 91 hours of your year that have been spent while doing or thinking about something that makes you happy.
Not too shabby, don't you think?
If you ask me, it would be indeed a very good start for a mental shift and a lovely self-care strategy.
See you in 2018, and thanks for being a reader of the blog!
Tags: Future, Self-awareness, Personal standards, 15 daily minutes of self-care, Quotes
PS. This one is dedicated to Radek, a brilliant and talented photographer I am lucky enough to know.
Some of the posts on this blog would not be the same, without his amazing and vibrant pictures, full of depth and able to capture the "soul" of the portrayed people.
I was sure you would ask. ;)
Well, at least to me, it is once more a beautiful reminder that perception is reality and that we create our own reality every single day through our beliefs and our mental frame. This way, even if saying that only mediocre people can be always in top form can sound like a very snobbish and depressing statement to some people, to me it actually means:
"Depending on how high your personal standards for yourself are, it may be that you are not going to be able to reach them every day, and this is actually a sign that your standards are delightfully high and that's great and it is going to make you a better person, no matter what other people think".
Having high standards can give you guidance, set the bar very high for what you want to be and to accomplish and help you maintaining your focus and improving your life in incredible ways.
If you are willing to accept that you are not going to be able to live up to those standards every single day, day in and day out, 365 days every year.
And this depending on the fact that you, just like me and everybody else, are a human being (or at least I suppose you are, I am guessing here ^^) and therefore you are not perfect nor flawless nor infallible.
Not even you can be 300% motivated and energized and over the top and happy and invincible for 365 days of this year or of the years to come. And that's OK. You are going to have both good days and bad ones, clear days and blurry ones, almost perfect days and "gosh, please let me just go back to bed now" days as well. Just like everybody else.
[The future can be... blurry sometimes.
This doesn't make it less sexy or compelling or promising]
To me, it doesn't matter if you are going to reach those fancy standards every day and it doesn't make sense to see as a failure every single time that you are not going to catch up with it.
To me, it is way more significant if you are going to try every single day, to do your best even if you know that the day was not a good one so far, because you know that tomorrow is going to be another day and what you did today will add up eventually.
And here we have the second quote of our good ol' Somerset:
Future is something people start to love when it's in the past.
Tomorrow is the future. Today was your yesterday's future. And tomorrow, the day after tomorrow is going to be your future as well. A far away future... doesn't exist yet.
You are going to create it today. And tomorrow. And the day after tomorrow.
People talking about "the" future like a big, monolithic and unchangeable entity seem to forget that the future is something we create every single day, one day at the time, with the actions, the thoughts and the emotions we go for and we choose for ourselves.
For the upcoming year and the next 365 days of your life, I wish you to have the guts, the boldness, the far-sightedness and, why not?, the craziness, to think about how you want to shape your days and your future through your actions, one small baby step at the time, and to celebrate this other quote as well:
Whatever you decide to do, make sure it makes you happy.
Paulo Coelho
If not all the time, if it is impossible for you because of many commitments, big responsibilities, a family, financial problems or whatever reason may be relevant to you, please try to give yourself at least 15 minutes a day for that.
Even in three rounds of 5 minutes each, in the unfortunate case you should believe that you will never be able to find 15 minutes a day.
If you should tell me that you are not able to find 5 minutes a day three times a day... sorry, I am not going to buy that one. Nice try, though!
At the end of the year, those daily 15 minutes alone would make about 91 hours of your year that have been spent while doing or thinking about something that makes you happy.
Not too shabby, don't you think?
If you ask me, it would be indeed a very good start for a mental shift and a lovely self-care strategy.
[As you may know, my name actually means "light blue".
Blue is often associated with sadness, and yet,
depending on how you think about it, it can also be
the color of the sky and of limitless possibilities.
How do you want to think about it, and about your future?]
See you in 2018, and thanks for being a reader of the blog!
Tags: Future, Self-awareness, Personal standards, 15 daily minutes of self-care, Quotes
PS. This one is dedicated to Radek, a brilliant and talented photographer I am lucky enough to know.
Some of the posts on this blog would not be the same, without his amazing and vibrant pictures, full of depth and able to capture the "soul" of the portrayed people.
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