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We are afraid of the future because it forces as to face our madness in the present

It is said that we should not worry about the future because it has not yet arrived (it is a mistake, because the future is always already here) and it is said that the future is not worth thinking about because we cannot know it (another mistake, but more difficult to explain, although the "memories of the future" mentioned by Augustine of Hippo can help.)

Be that as it may, it should be clear that the fear of an unknown future is not based on ignorance of that future, that is, it is not an epistemological or epistemological question because it is evident that if we knew that future in detail, we could still feel fear.

Fear of the future is based on several factors. For example, people confuse the future with tomorrow or with the future, that is, they attribute a certain temporality to what is (or it could be understood as) a state of consciousness. More specifically, the future is the expansion of consciousness to connect with the best possible version of oneself (imaginal version, not imaginary).

Even worse, the future is often mistaken for a repetition of the past or a perpetuation of the present. But, as I like to say, if the past fills all our present, then there is no room for the future, because the future (understanding future as an expansion of consciousness) is the realm of opportunities and possibilities.

Only an open mind can perceive new possibilities. Only an open heart can connect with those possibilities. And only a willing will can bring them to action.

For others, the future is a scary place because thinking about the future means two things: taking responsibility for the consequences of our decisions in the present and accepting that, even if we don't exercise it, we have the ability to co-create a future different from the present and the future. past.

But beyond all these different explanations (either psychological or existential ones), many people are afraid of the future because somehow (even unconsciously) they feel that the future means change and therefore they are going to stop worrying. be what they are now. In other words, the caterpillar knows how to be a caterpillar, but it does not know how to be a butterfly.

Arguably, resisting change is equivalent to trying to block out the sunlight with your thumb. As they say (without understanding it), change is the only constant. Heraclitus already spoke of his famous river which cannot be entered twice. And the psalmist compared a just life to living next to “living waters” (that is, water in constant movement).

In short, the future becomes terrifying when, like the prisoners in Plato's cave, we believe that there is no possible change and that there is no alternative to the present. In this context, we keep repeating the same actions over and over again expecting different results. That’s the very definition of insanity. The future terrifies us because it forces us to face our own madness.

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