The future looms large. It’s tomorrow. It’s today. It’s a second from now, and from then, and another right after. It’s all mine – every bit of it my own. What else could it be? To whom else could it belong? Who else will be responsible for molding it, filling it, rolling with its punches, sneaking through its cracks? Who else will look back on a future that once was and laugh – or cry – at the way it turned out? No one. Because no one else can have my future. It’s not possible, unless we’re to take body-snatching into account.

So why do I let other people dictate my future for me? Why do I align myself with people intent on crawling on their hands and knees into a bleak obscurity? I don’t mind going silent into the night, but only if it’s MY night and MY silence, a silence of MY choosing. Why do I have to wait beside those who have given up, who believe that fate has dealt a bad hand, and the future (or really, the soon-to-be present of a few minutes, hours, days from now) is entirely out of their control?

It’s all yours for the taking! If you don’t like your job, QUIT. If you don’t like your living situation, MOVE. If you don’t have enough time, MAKE IT. If you are tired, SLEEP. EAT. PRAY. Don’t complain, then sit back and let the future wash over you. Don’t drown in a tide pool without at least trying to swim out past the breakwater!

My choice will have to be made soon. I can’t let it all pass me by because I’m waiting for someone else to get it. You can’t go adventuring with someone who doesn’t take chances.

My future is mine. I guess I was going to do it alone, anyway. I’m still hoping that turns out to be figurative, rather than literal, but hey. That’s life.