Intention and our Default Future

We use the words Past, Present and Future as ways of describing what has happened, what is happening and what may happen to us.   We cannot change the Past, although we can reimagine or reinterpret what has happened so that it seems to have been different from what it was.   We can affect the future, but only by the way we choose to act in the Present.  Our ability to directly affect our own futures is limited as there are a multitude of factors outside of our control, and perhaps even our understanding, that combine to impact upon what happens to us.

However what is happening to us now is the result, to some degree, of actions we took in the past, which was of course our present at the time those actions took place.  It is interesting to consider to what extent what we are presently experiencing is the direct result of choices we made in the past and what is happening without any apparent involvement or consideration from us.

There is a future that will come to pass if we do nothing different from what we are currently doing.  This can be called the Default Future.  Each change we make to our actions in the present will create a new default future, which will then be what comes to pass if we continue with this new behaviour. 

At a simple level this is like buying a lottery ticket so that you are included in the draw.  If you do not buy a ticket then a win is unlikely to be part of your default future, though you may still be included in another’s success.  Within the limits of our ability to influence, is there more that we can do to increase the likelihood of the outcome that we are hoping for?

For me a good starting point is to know what we want that future present to be.  We can then identify those actions to be taken in our real-time present that will be most likely to bring about the future present that we desire.  I would describe this as intention, as we are deliberately choosing to affect our default future by changing what we are doing in the present.

I believe that focusing on intention is important as it promotes a stronger sense of engagement in our lives which can also counter feelings of alienation.   The power of intention can apply equally whether we decide to let go and blow with the wind or take deliberate steps to create future opportunities for ourselves.

There is a challenge in trying to fully understand the specific details of the future experience we are hoping to have in our future present, though such knowledge is vital if we are to increase the likelihood of it coming to pass.  This also assumes that we believe we are sufficiently in control of our present so that we are able to act upon our own intention rather than succumbing to the intentions of others.

This might help us to understand feelings of a lack of control that sometimes overwhelm us.   As children we are expected to spend much of our time studying subjects we are told will bring us future benefits.  This possibility of improving our default future through specific efforts in the present is based on trust.  Children do not have the knowledge or experience to assess the likely impact of trading one set of time for another; one real and one that can only be imagined.  For many children traditional school style learning becomes mostly about the future and can seem dislocated from their present experiences.  I wonder if the most successful students are those who are able to find pleasure in those activities undertaken in the present that may also lead to a more satisfying future? 

The balance between enjoying the present and planning for the future changes from when we are children through to adulthood, as we learn more about the costs associated with this trade-off.  Is there something about this shifting balance that can motivate when it works yet create despondency and even depression when it does not?

Disappointment in the future that did not meet our expectations can lead to crisis, particularly when the investment was high.  Were we misled about the potential outcome, or did we fail to understand what it was about the imagined future that we sought and so invested in the wrong aspects of that future, or possibly in the wrong future altogether?

How much of our current time do we invest in ensuring that our experience in the future is the best it can be, and how can we be sure that this will be better than the default future?  Perhaps the present is too precious to be taken up with endless planning for a maybe future, and only when the time spent brings value in the present is it worth investing? 

When we know what we truly want to happen we can use our intention to shape our default futures.  When we are unsure of what we really want, that same intention can allow us to hold back so that the default future can be allowed to become our present.

© 2015 Michael Golding