Chasing the Shadow of Your Future Self (Who You'll Never Meet) Into the New Year
As we close out this year and prepare for the next, I've been thinking a lot about chasing the shadow of our future selves. An idea that we can never quite meet our future selves because no matter how hard we try, life throws curveballs and brings unforeseen changes.
And as a new year draws near, we are all looking ahead with optimism and anticipation. We make resolutions and set goals that we hope will shape our future selves. We want to achieve great things to become someone better than who we are today.
But there is a dark side to this pursuit of perfection. The pressure to make something of ourselves can make us despair when our dreams fail to materialize, or life throws those unexpected obstacles our way.
In those moments, it's important to remember that no matter what happens in the coming year, we've already traveled far on our personal journey. We should all strive for progress rather than perfection—our lives don't need to fit into neat little boxes to consider ourselves successful.
It's also important to acknowledge that despite all our planning and hard work, sometimes things go differently than expected. And while we may feel discouraged when that happens, it's also ok. Our perceived imperfections should be embraced, as they help shape who we are and how we view the world around us.
At the end of the day, chasing the shadow of our future self is futile - it's something we will never quite catch up to because tomorrow is always one step ahead of us. All we can do is continue taking steps toward our dreams, learning from each step.
Stopping trying to control what will happen next will allow us to appreciate life for what it is and create a beautiful future for ourselves - no matter what 2024 brings.