Not only is this remarkable, it is also incredibly useful. By remembering the past we can learn, we can adapt, we can do things differently than we did in the past.
If we can imagine the future, then we can see our next step.
What is this future we can imagine? Some humans will envision a dystopian, apocalyptic, nightmarish future in which the world is a bleak, nasty and brutal one. Not me, and I guess, not many of those who are working in community development or social justice fields. The future we imagine is a rosy, utopian one. Most of us will no doubt be imagining a world of peace and harmony. We project a world in which our friends, family and community are living happily, and where our children can play safely. In this future society everyone has access to education, health, shelter, food, and ample leisure time to pursue their dreams. It is a world of tolerance, diversity, compassion and forgiveness.
Yes, I’m sure most of us have dreamt of this future world. We may have even participated in visioning exercises designed to get us to think of what this world will look and feel like.
There is a third aspect that is remarkable about our minds. Not only can we remember and imagine, we can also centre and ground ourselves in the present moment. Moment by moment we take step by step (literally and figuratively).
If we can imagine the future then we can see that next step, we can feel that next moment.
When we fully realise the power of this third aspect of our minds then we truly can change the world. And isn’t that what we dream of – changing the world?
Taking the next step is an incredibly simple task: we act, here and now. We co-act, and co-create, with whomever we are with and with whatever is existing right now. We create the next step. Our next step does not happen by chance, we consciously take it. We step towards our future.
If we can imagine the future then our next step becomes our future. In taking that step we act peacefully and in harmony. Into that step we take with us tolerance, diversity, compassion and forgiveness.
Our future is our next step, our next step is our future.
The paradox of such a state of mind and being is that we no longer need to imagine what the future will look and feel like. Our future is already here and now.
This all sounds so simple that it is almost laughable. Yet, wait – think about it. Why wait for our imagined rosy, utopian, future? Why not act our future now? We can do it. All we need is the conscious intent.
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