If You Could Know One Thing About Your Future…(Journal Prompt)

What would you ask if you could discover one fact about your future?

Would you choose something small and practical or something that could reshape how you live today? What does your curiosity say about your hopes, fears, or dreams?

Or maybe you’d rather not know anything at all?

We started the New Year with this question in The Journal Circle. It sparked a treasure trove of insights and various responses from different people.

We spent five minutes in the session journaling our immediate responses to the question.

So, What Would I Want To Know About My Future?

My first thought was, “How do I die?” Yep, morbid. Would I really want to know that? Then, I thought knowing when rather than how might be more helpful. Because if the “how” part is unusual, I might be in a perpetual state of worry whenever I walk through the park, butter my toast, or put my trousers on. At least, if I know when it happens, I don’t need to worry.

But then I decided it would probably be less troubling not to know.

Is “It” Worth It in The End?

So, I asked, “Is it worth it?” Would I want to find out whether an endeavour works out for the best in the end? This was an interesting thing to think about. What impact does the end of something have on the process? Are my endeavours only worthwhile if they end up “succeeding”? Or, if I know this will fail, would I do it anyway? How do I define success? Is everything hinging on how it ends? Like an enjoyable TV show with a terrible finale. Does the finale undermine the joy of the journey to get there?

Success, Guaranteed

Conversely, how would knowing something succeeds impact my relationship with it?

Maybe it’s the uncertainty that makes life worth living. And maybe it’s more than how things turn out that tells us whether or not what we have done was worth it.

So, I’d settle for discovering what I eat for the rest of the week so I don’t have to think about it. I don’t mind taking the surprise (and decision-making) out of that. But there’s also something about knowing that gives us freedom, especially when we are under a cloud of uncertainty. Perhaps we are awaiting results, seeking answers, or navigating a problem with many potential outcomes. The uncertainty of not yet knowing can cause worry and anxiety, whereas, even if the answer is undesirable, at least we can do something with the knowledge.

Knowing might help us adapt to and make peace with the truth so we can plan accordingly.

Over to You

So, I wonder what your answer to this question would be. What would you ask if you could discover one fact about your future?

Fancy exploring more questions like this? Join us for 30-minutes on a Friday in our Zoom Journal Circle. Reflect on the week gone and think forward to the week ahead and have a go at our ’Question for the Week’. It’s a great chance to connect in a fun, low pressure environment with fellow Haven members from around the world.