No matter what we expect from the future, we can choose to embrace what it brings, by Nancy Leport

[Guest Blogger @ Happiness Inside]

One of my favorite artists/poets is Brian Andreas who created the StoryPeople books and art. I discovered him in a little shop on Martha’s Vineyard, one of my happy places and enough reason to commend him! He has the most brilliant way of capturing a common problem, tension, or everyday occurrence and giving it an almost surreal twist full of truth and smiles.

Reading him brings me happiness from the inside out not just because he is so clever but because he speaks the truth and confronts me with a playful spirit on far too many occasions.

One of my favorites is “Known Future”.

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE FUTURE

It doesn’t have to look any particular way, but
around here, if it doesn’t, a lot of people will
never speak to you again.(1)

See what I mean? A basic truth expressed whimsically and pointedly. How many times have we found ourselves unhappy because we expected things to be a certain way and they turned out to be not so much? At the beginning of the year we all have hopes and dreams about how the year will go, expecting a vacation, or a wedding, or a new job or a new relationship to be perfect and totally meeting our idea of how it should look.

When the future envisioned doesn’t come to pass, we are disappointed, upset or just plain unhappy. And if we are honest we realize we have missed what the gift was in that less than perfect moment never to reclaim it again.

I certainly came face to face with this when both of my daughters moved out of the area to pursue careers in Washington, DC and Atlanta, GA. This was not how I envisioned the future! And then my younger daughter and her husband had a baby. Wait a minute! How will I ever get to be her Nana???? Nope, not at all how I envisioned it and I could have easily stopped talking to them in my disappointment of their not being nearby.

When I was able to leave my pity party, I began to see that my preconceived ideas of what the future should look like only set me up for unhappiness and disappointment. I embraced the reality of the situation and found the beauty in it…exciting places to visit filled with love and joy every time I opened the door. There is much happiness in knowing the next meeting is as much anticipated as the current one.

How we walk in the world is a choice. How we move into the future is a choice. How we react to those futures is a choice.

Brian Andreas says it so much more poetically…

“Awakening”

In those days we finally chose to walk like giants
& hold the world in arms grown strong with love
& there may be many things we forget in the days to come,
but this will not be one of them.(2)

As you walk into 2010 may you chose to be surprised and delighted walking in the world like giants and never forgetting what it is that really makes you happy.

1. Andreas, Brian, Traveling Light, Oakland, West Coast Print Center, 2003, p. 1.
2. Ibid, p. 16.

Copyright Nancy Leport, February 2010
Her bio can be found here.
http://www.nancyleport.com

[Happiness Inside's Test Profile]

Excellent post!

[Linda]

I too have children in different states, and yes there are times I miss them dearly. The one thing about this era in time is we are as close as a cell phone sitting on the coffee table. I can usually tell you by the time of day who is calling, different time zones, different work hours or just an occassional ring in the middle of the day. Life is anticipated at times and it brings us the joy we might have missed otherwise, but there are times when the future will change. And we will change with it. Just living our lives and being happy with the joy that is always just a cell phone call away from family.

[Kelly Letky]

Thanks for such an interesting and inspiring post!
I completely agree that happiness can be determined as much by choice as by circumstance. Getting to that point is a process that is not always easy, but like most things, is worth the effort in the end. I have learned in the past few years to make a point of enjoying something about every day, and I am always searching out ways to add laughter to my life. Because when it comes right down to it, you just have to laugh!
We can't always control what happens in our lives, but we can control how we respond and how we choose to move forward. Here's to walking like giants...