With all the blood and grime and gore published about daily life, it’s easy to see why it’s hard to be optimistic about our future. The simple reason is that it is hard to see beyond what we are all experiencing, what we are seeing, beyond the constant barrage of gloom and doom published on TV and the internet.
In the far distant past, say 250 years ago, most of us were serving out life-sentences of hard labor and expected the same for our foreseeable futures. Our hopes were modest, such as owning a third chair or a adding a second room for the children (all 5 or 10 of them). Only the upper 2-3% of society didn’t toil incessantly and their vision of the future was that they would continue to be in command of society as was their (perceived) natural right.
In the recent past, say 100 years ago or so, it was relatively easy to live without being threatened to be pulled under by the treacherous rapids of current events. Most of us lived a rural lifestyle, probably without running water and electricity. Most work was powered by the strength of our backs and skill of our hands. Our general vision of the future was that it be just like the drudgery our daily lives but with the hope that science and technology would somehow save us. Luxuries like electric washing machines, self-driving cars and flying machines were coming our way. All we had to do is wait.
But in today’s world, it’s hard to escape the 24-hour a day news cycle, filled with worst and most horrific events from around the world. The news organizations are trained to obey rule of “If it bleeds, it leads”, only publishing the worst events. Bloggers and podcasters are trained to distill from these lurid headlines the most outrageous conclusions that support their own personal biases (or the biases that they are paid to (mis)represent). All we hear about is the worst behavior and the lowest aspects of human nature.
If we want our futures to be better than our bleak todays, we must intentionally separate what we want from the constant barrage of negativity. Our shared future CAN be better but not if we just let our future happen. The future won’t just accidentally get better all by itself.
Instead, we must begin to develop, design, dream, and dedicate ourselves to producing a better future, not just for ourselves, but for our children and our grandchildren. Designing for our grandchildren can give us the perspective necessary to distance ourselves from the visceral brutality of current events and focus on what is really important in the long run.
When the next horrific sound bite or disgusting video clip is broadcast, decide if you want this event in your grandchildren’s future. Don’t get swept up in the emotion of that clip; emotional people are easily swayed and can make bad decisions.
Instead, ask yourself, “Do I want my children and grandchildren to have to watch or listen to this?” If not, it tells us about our core values, what we believe is important, what our hearts tell us are the true enduring values. A collection of these values defines the general outlines of your desired future.
If you are reading this post, then you are part of the first few generations where our future is NOT predetermined by our past. We have the opportunity and the obligation to define a better future and not just accept the future imposed upon us. We can craft a better future but we first have to have a shared vision of what that better future looks like.
A thousand generations have placed their faith in us to produce a better future. They struggled and fought every day to survive and did their best to teach their children to survive, based on what the knew, based on the dirt under their fingernails and the gnawing hunger in their stomachs. And the desire in their hearts.
Take a look at the next post(s) to view my visions for our future.
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