Look Into the Future

¶ … Future It initially sounds appealing to be able to look into the future. With this knowledge, I would have the potential to amass tremendous fortune and to avoid the heartache of selecting the wrong romantic partner. I'd be also be better prepared for life's traumatic events such as war and terrorist attacks. Upon further reflection, however, I find these benefits would be far outweighed by the loss of life's experiences and the frustrations of knowing bad things are going to happen with no ability to alter their course.

Prior knowledge of business performance would easily allow me to make huge profits in the stock market. But, I fear that these profits would most likely hinder rather than help my personal development and career growth because my financial need to succeed would be eliminated. Thus, I believe that rather than striving to be all that I can be, I would simply become a member of the idle rich with little aim or direction in life.

I also think that earning one's success is more valuable than having it placed in your lap because you appreciate what you have a lot more when you've had to work hard to get what you have. On a more personal note, if I could foresee the future, I would be able to identify relationships that didn't work out and would certainly avoid them in the first place. However, I believe that the ability to establish a positive, loving relationship rests on learning from past experiences, both good and bad.

For example, figuring out what makes you happy in a relationship often comes after identifying why past relationships didn't work out. And, that knowledge is only truly understood by experiencing the actual situation. I can remember how many times my mother provided me with good advice that I chose to ignore because I didn't understand or believe her. Only after learning from my own mistakes did I come to realize the wisdom of her guidance.

Knowledge of a catastrophic event before it happens would be a curse more than a blessing. That's because I would not be able to do anything about what's about to happen. For instance, if I had known of the September 11th events in advance, I can't imagine how I could have used this knowledge to prevent the attack. I wouldn't have had access to the people that could have had any influence and, even if I did, they would have considered my warnings to be the ranting of a lunatic.

Having knowledge without ability to affect change would only bring frustration, guilt, and heartache. Even when considering a personal acquaintance or loved one, there's nothing I could really do to turn the tide of disease or old age, the leading causes of death. And, for the same reasons I've given above, I would be hesitant.