An Unknown Future

“I had learned not to worry; to make my choice and allow things to happen. For the most part they turned out to be good and when they weren’t – like the night from hell in a hostel – then they were character building. There weren’t any wrong or right paths to choose, just different ones, and where they led was governed by the attitude adopted towards them.” From Round Ireland with a Fridge, by Tony Hawks.


Better than I ever could have said it, this is a succinct summary of my outlook on life and my philosophy of taking what comes. I do my best to live day by day, forming little in the way of clear cut definite plans and instead simply choosing from the options which arise, as they come up. Even the best laid plans are made to be broken. Often they are a crutch, limiting one’s options and forcing one down a narrow path chosen in ignorance of future possibilities.

I don’t do well with crutches.

This doesn’t mean that I don’t have doubts. That I don’t often wonder what it is that I’m doing with this life. But I have never been satisfied with great, overarching life plans comprised of steps and regular achievements that ought to be charted on a graph. I believe that life should be spent in the present. As Vonnegut said, “We were put on this earth to fart around and don’t let anyone tell you differently.” We weren’t meant to fulfill world shattering dreams. We were meant to live day by day, looking not to the future but settling in and focusing on life in the present.

I know of one sure way to achieve this...somewhere... on a river, floating ever onward into the unknown future.