“It’s being here now that’s important. There’s no past and there’s no future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now. We can gain experience from the past, but we can’t relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we don’t know if there is one.”
― George Harrison
Job interviews are often filled with a series of generic (and very predictable) questions all would-be-employers feel the need to ask in order to get a better understanding of who you are.
I have little difficulty answering such questions – all but one that is. Whenever I’m asked, “Where do you see yourself in five years” I’m often left dumbfounded. While I understand the logic behind the question, as they try to measure your determination, goals and commitment, admittedly it’s a difficult question to answer when you make an effort to live your life in the present. To try and focus on and influence what’s happening right now, rather than worry about what will happen later.
Honestly, I hope that I’m alive in five years – and I hope my wife, family and friends are all still around wherever life may lead us half a decade from now. I know that sounds like a vague response, but in reality without the love, support and laughter of those cherished individuals, “where I see myself” is impossible to predict.
Life is a series of challenges and discoveries, and many times just surviving one day to the next can be a struggle and a burden. But today is the only day we have, so instead of wasting it worried about the future we should be enjoying each and every moment and the amazing individuals our lives are blessed with.
I’ve spent far too many years worrying about a future I have little control over. It’s taken me almost four decades, but I’m finally starting to understand that today is the day that matters.
I love this quote from Erin Morgenstern’s book The Night Circus:
“You will be fine,” the fortune teller says. “There may be decisions to make and surprises in store. Life takes us to unexpected places sometimes. The future is never set in stone, remember that.”
So let’s stop wasting so much of our time trying to predict it.
