Read This If The Future Terrifies You

Thinking about the future keeps me up at night and it gives me the type of anxiety I would never wish on my worst enemy. The “future” terrifies me. Because it’s the unknown. And I don’t know how I can prepare myself for the unknown.

Your whole life, you are taught that you need to somehow prepare for the next phases of your life. In elementary school you brace yourself for the awkwardness that is middle school. And in middle school you fret about the daunting high school halls. Seniors in high school bite their nails in anticipation of getting the hell out of there to go to college. And once college is over, you have to brace yourself once more for what ever may come your way.

We keep treating life like it’s a plane ready to crash, a rollercoaster ready to drop, and like it’s a coffin ready to open.

We keep grinding our teeth, and pulling out our hair, always in fight or flight mode. We never stop bracing for the worst and we never stop fretting about the “what if’s”. We are always so anxious, forever waiting for our next obstacle and challenge.

If you are terrified of the future, trust me, I get it. It’s easy to be terrified when we have all been taught to prepare for the bombs heading our way. But, somewhere along the way, I’ve grown weary of bitten nails, of panic attacks, and of insomnia. And I think we all are.

So, I’m done bracing. I’m done trying to control every aspect in my life. I’m done cringing at loud sounds and shaking in the dark. We all need to accept that the future is not a big scary creature on the verge of an attack. Our future is going to be whatever we make of it. And sure, it’s unknown, but why can’t it be a beautiful and wonderful unknown?

I think we all need to realize that our future is going to work itself out. And of course, we are going to face terrible challenges that will try to knock us off the ground but, we are in control of how we react to it. We are in control of our feelings no matter what happens. Let’s start getting excited for our future instead of running for cover. Let’s celebrate that new days, new beginnings and experiences that are coming our way. Let’s celebrate the people we haven’t met yet, the love we haven’t felt yet and the friends we haven’t had yet. Our future is a big adventure that starts now.

So, stop closing your eyes to the world and turning your head away from your life. We all have so much to look forward to, and so much to be thankful for what is yet to come.