Looking Ahead to the Future

Driving to work today, I listened to the Ted Radio Hour on NPR. It’s one of my favorite shows & I always learn so much every time I listen.

Journalist & writer Shankar Vedantam of The Hidden Brain podcast had a great segment. He spoke about how difficult it is to picture our future selves because we can’t forsee the changes that will mold us into the people we will become. It’s easy to look back and see how we’ve changed over the years, but it is impossible to predict our futures.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

---

Three years ago, if you had asked me where I would be today, it’s unlikely I would have answered a ski resort in New Mexico. I had all the things I had dreamed about: a job I loved, a beautiful home on the Intracoastal Waterway & a great group of friends—but something was missing.

---

When you were a child, what was your dream job?

---

I always imagined I would go to law school and become an attorney. I ended up married, raising a son & studying to become a high school math teacher. By sheer happenstance, I ended up being a librarian for almost 20 years—a far cry from practicing law.

---

The dream I had as a child wasn’t the dream of Christi, the mom, the college student, the librarian. That dream had changed into a thousand different dreams over the last 40+ years. My dream had turned into a life with travel and adventure.

---

Every life experience I had molded me I to the person I am today. Every person I’ve encountered has affected me, my thoughts & beliefs. The one person who affected me more than anyone is my son, Rob.

---

Rob has shown me how to be the person I am, not who everyone expects me to be. He inspired me to embrace who I am & live my life to the fullest. He taught me how to love someone, how to treat myself & others with kindness and, most importantly, to realize the things that matter most in life.

---

Shankar Vedantam said that we shouldn’t strive for balance in life. A balance implies that something has to be reduced in order for something to increase, as in a scale.

---

Instead, strive to make your life a mosaic. Take all of your experiences, both big and small, and piece them together to make a beautiful life. All of our experiences make us the unique individuals we are. Embrace all of the pieces of your mosaic. They are what makes you the beautiful person that you are!

---

I wish everyone a Happy 2024.

Live your dreams & be happy!