I met Noko during a book signing event. I remember her so well because her concerns almost broke my heart and because her “turnaround” brought me such joy.
In essence, Noko was in turmoil because she didn’t yet know what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. She was panicked that she didn’t know if she would make it into college or what kind of career she would have. She was insecure about whether she’d be able to make enough money, please her mom, or find the right husband. In short, she was immobilized because she felt she was running out of time and she didn’t have any answers. And she was only fifteen!
We talked briefly about taking life one day at a time and about the power of making each day the best it can be. I remember saying to her, “Noko, today is the most important day of your life. By treating each day as the most important day, your future will automatically take care of itself.” While it’s certainly true we must plan for the future, it’s counterproductive to worry too much about it.
It seems to me that one of the biggest mistakes most of us make is assuming that, for whatever reasons, tomorrow is going to be more important than today. What a silly assumption! Today is real. We are here today, and there are things we can do. There is no such guarantee with regard to tomorrow. In fact, tomorrow is a thought in our mind.
To me, it’s always been reassuring to know that I guarantee my best possible future by making today all it can be. I believe the same is true for you too. This realization seems to take away the urgency and fear associated with not knowing what’s going to happen. In fact, making the decision to do your best today actually makes not knowing exactly what’s going to happen sort of exciting. You know it’s going to work out well and you know you’ll be fine—you just don’t know the exact form it’s going to take.
It’s logical that if I do my best today with today’s set of circumstances—and then I do the same thing again tomorrow, and then again the next day, and so forth—I’m setting myself up and planting the seeds for a great future. The decisions I make and the actions I take today will be the best I can do right now. I’ll do the same thing tomorrow and next week and next year. Those “best I can do” decisions will add up and, eventually, will make up my future. In other words, someday today’s “future” will be yet another “today.” And when it arrives, my suggestion is to make it the best possible day.
About a year later I received a beautiful letter from Noko stating that while she still didn’t know what she was going to do with her life when she was older, her concerns about it were all but over. She said that she had learned to be happy and that the past year was the best year of her life—not because her circumstances were any better or her future was any more secure, but simply because she had made the decision to do her best every day and let the future take care of itself.
I have no idea what Noko’s future holds, but I do have absolute confidence that she will make a significant contribution to society and that her life will be filled with joy. The same will be true for you if you do your best—but don’t sweat the future.