What if you were gifted with knowledge of your future? A newspaper article, a snippet on the evening news projected two, maybe twenty years to foreshadow what your life would become? How your ambitions panned out?
For those of us who aspire to be New York Times bestsellers or live in a castle in England and type away madly all day, indulging in the eccentricities our success wrought, what if the glimpse turned out to be true? What if we knew one day our story would be the one to finally knock the Harry Potter empire from the collective lists? Would we change the way we live our lives? Work harder? Or would that knowledge lead to the paranoid fear of a misstep? Something that would blow us so wildly off-course, we'd never reach that snippet of the future?
It is all in what you believe of fate and pre-destination. The free will to make mistakes in the microcosm, but still part of the overall plan we're too closely focused to see. Would this knowledge really be a gift, or would it cripple us to seeing anything different or wiser or more important?
When we look back, do we see it and really understand it?
If I'd known nine years ago I'd still be marching the shelves at the chain stores and not find my own book, would it have stalled my dream? Would I have sprinted the path, more determined than ever to shorten the distance? Would I have never taken the first step?
These past nine years, fattened with highs and lows and all the frustrations and joys in between, I know absolutely have shaped me into the person I've become. Someone I love dearly used the "D" word to describe me. Determined. Not exactly a word at the forefront of my vocabulary nine years ago, but now, it's the exact legacy I hope to create for those who follow me.
Would knowledge of your future be a gift?
I've often wondered what it would be like to see the future. I'm fascinated by the gift of prophecy and clairvoyance. It's also frightning to think about. Is the future set? Is destiny pre-determined? Or is it maleable? Will knowing the future change the past? Can we change the future if we know what is to come?
I don't know. I plan for 6 months ahead, like everyone else. I "project" for 24 months and again for that 5 year mark.
But, seriously, if I'd known how long it would actually take me to get published, I think I would've quit. And then I would've missed all the "growth" this business has pressed upon me, both emotionally, physically and spiritually. I would've missed out on the greatest women I've ever met!! The greatest friendships of my life 🙂
So, for me, I'm glad I can't see the future.