Materializing the Future
How We Shape Reality
This morning I listened to an interview with Dr Ervin Laszlo, the philosopher, systems scientist, and author of more than one hundred books. At ninety-two, he speaks with remarkable clarity, curiosity, and joy.
One idea stayed with me long after the interview ended.
Many of us treat happiness as a reward. We tell ourselves:
When the book is published, I will be happy.
When I find the right job, I will be happy.
When I meet the right partner, I will finally relax.
In other words, we place our joy at the end of the journey and ask life to deliver the result first.
What if we reversed the order?
What if we allowed ourselves to feel grateful, hopeful, and excited before the wish arrives?
Not because we are pretending. Not because we are trying to trick the universe.
Simply because the wish already exists in our imagination, and imagination is part of life.
A gardener does not wait for the first flower before caring for the garden. The care comes first. The flower follows in its own time.
Wishes are similar.
The moment we begin to welcome them with warmth rather than anxiety, something changes. We stop standing at the door demanding proof. We begin preparing a place at the table.
I realised today that anticipation can be a form of gratitude.
I can be grateful for the readers who may discover these words one day.
I can be grateful for conversations that have not happened yet.
I can be grateful for ideas that are still growing quietly beneath the surface.
The future remains unknown. That is part of its beauty.
A desire should not be merely awaited. It should be inhabited with life in advance.
Or, more precisely: Joy is not a reward for a fulfilled desire. Joy is the soil in which desire grows.
The victories are always guaranteed. Victory is already happening in the process.
Yet there is no rule that says we must wait until a wish is fulfilled before allowing ourselves to feel joy. You are happy because you have already entered the state of a person who is moving towards a result.
The first step toward a dream is to welcome it with a smile.
