Looking Ahead While Living in the Moment

The future begins today. Shakespeare once said, "Every day is a king in disguise." We must plan for the future, but we must live today. Foresight does not involve saying things such as, "I will be happy when I accomplish this," or, "I will be fulfilled when I get a new house (a new car, earn my degree, or whatever else is important to you)." There is a balance that needs to be achieved between looking ahead and getting the most richness out of each day as it comes. The reason we use foresight and visualization is so that we can see where we're going without bumping into ourselves. Find joy in the actions you take today, especially those that are building your future. Someone once said, "Tomorrow's life is too late. Live today."

As much as we plan, we cannot really know what will happen tomorrow. Each day, we are lucky to be alive. So we must count each day as a gift that has been given to us, and show our appreciation by using that gift well.

Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.

—Langston Hughes,
poet and writer

I Dare You...

Spend time every day practicing the art of foresight. Find time, no matter what mood you're in, to create the future in your mind's eye. Based on where you are now, what would your future look like? How would you like your life to be different than it is now? What actions can I take today to move toward that different life? What do I have in my life now that I can use to create that future? What don't I have in my life that I can work toward getting?

Go within every day and find the inner strength so that the world will not blow your candle out.

—Katharine Dunham,
dancer

Create a virtual reality that can become a physical reality. Your mind is the most potent, powerful tool a human has. And we have all been given that tool, free and clear. Use it to your best ability.

Every situation—nay, every moment—is of infinite worth; for it is the representative of a whole eternity.

—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
author

Foresight is what enables you to move forward. But in order to be effective and successful, you can't just move forward from here to there and back again. You have to be aiming at something in order to hit a target. In the next chapter, you'll learn that what separates a vision from reality is having a clear, purposeful goal on which to set your sights.