If you ask me what I want to be in the future 
I ‘ll tell you a very lofty profession, I’ve got to remain impressive  despite that I have not the faintest idea what that profession even  entails. I want to be a doctor because I know that’ll please my mum. A  professor to my teacher of course to make her feel impressed I wanted to  be like her, to my pastor, a very prominent minister who owns a really  massive church ministry. Heck, I was even going to become a lawyer  because my neighbor owed the landlord and was thrown out of the house,
 
I  needed to ‘defend the poor’.
Then  I started raising kids and once my daughter was asked in school what  she’ll like to become and was scolded badly, no, embarrassed even for  saying she wants to be a really successful business woman owning lots  and lots of businesses and becoming a business mogul, a tycoon. Of  course it wasn’t in conformance with what every other kid said, she had  to ‘review her future’ to conform with what her head teacher wanted. You  bet I wouldn’t let anyone box anyone up let alone my kid, she can  become whomever she chooses to, thank you!
 
I’m asked where do I see myself in the next 5 years,
I created long, excruciatingly lofty list with hopes and dreams
A  quick blink and I ask, where did 5 years go? I’d just been here a  minute and it’s been what?
Time sure is the biggest cheat of all time,  I’d agree with you.
Such a fraud, I’ve only been here for how long? It’s  already what? Heck no!
 
You  tell me that for me to deal with and handle the frustrations of today I  have to ‘go to my happy place’, oh yes I learnt that from mindfulness  class.
Oh, some say picture yourself in the future life, see yourself  being who you dream to be, paint a clear picture of your future, make  the goal clear.
Yeah right, been at this ‘future’ business since I was a  kid yet here I am.
 
This  isn’t anything near the future I visualized as a kid, not anything close  to what I pictured 5 or 10 years ago and it’s only seeming that instead  of a huge relief from the supposed present and drive to become better,  It’s almost become a really huge shackle that chains us down.
 
They paint  the SHOULDS and the ‘WOULD HAVES’, not anymore, please.
We  live in the future while our present slips past us. We envision what  10years from now will be for us while we stay absent from what is  happening right here and now
 
There’s  a reason today is called present, it’s a gift that needs to be enjoyed.  Your life today is yesterday you haven’t lived. Coming from someone  that has been literally oblivious of life passing her by, this has to be  one of the most valuable present from me to you, show up for yourself  always, choose you always, be present for your own life and don’t just  be part of the cast, you are the frigging main actor for chrissakes,  show up dammit!!!
 
Your future is here, your future is now, the present is the new future! Show up NOW for your Future 
Dee Banks
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