Is Anything Ever For Certain?

By Jackelyn Ho

We go along in this life making plans and promises for something more, something better. Not yet, but soon. We tell ourselves that right now is just an interim and that tomorrow will be so much bigger than we could have ever imagined. We say yes to things on the whim that it will be good for our future. We say no to things with the premise that it’s too risky and scary.

But why? Is anything even set in stone? Who gets to determine what decisions are good and bad? The answer will surprise you.

YOU.

You are responsible for all of that. You create your own levels of expectations and design your own future based on thoughts and feelings. Sure, the future is fun to think about, but what about right now? If you are sacrificing today’s happiness for current you, then how could future you possibly be okay with that?

It’s a hard balance to achieve, though. We are taught to be safe and to do the right thing so that we set up a good future for ourselves. But how do we plan for the things that weren’t supposed to happen? The accident that left us physically unable to walk? The heartbreak that left us empty and breathless? The unspoken truth that echoed in our heads when it was finally spoken?

How do you plan for that?

You can’t. You don’t. You anticipate the best and prepare for the worst because that’s what we are taught to do. It’s an oxymoronic world in which I have never understood. Most of the time we don’t even think about the future or live in the present. We are stuck in this weird middle ground where we just let the minutes and days pass by without a spark of appreciation.

Perhaps instead of spending so much time thinking, we should just spend more time feeling. Emotions and feelings drive decisions and we don’t give it enough credit. We tell our hearts to be quiet in order to allow others to speak. Over time, our little hearts can’t handle the pressure and burst without a second of notice. Whether in love or in life, our hearts have a voice that need to be heard.

So we go back to square one. Is anything ever for certain? No. No it is not. So if these were the last words I were to type or these thoughts were the final ones that I would ever manifest, it would be this:

Let’s do this.