Your aspirations are bigger than the fears they may harbour. Never let this ocean of fear trap you in its wild currents. Flow freely, live fearlessly.

-HH Sudhanshuji Maharaj

Stop Being Afraid of the Future

When you keep moving ahead while staying connected with your God, a state of bliss and peace stays intact in your life.  So, whatever God has bestowed upon you try to value those things otherwise when you lose them you will be left with no option but a feeling of regret.

And for that, you should stop worrying about the future and start utilizing your present time in a productive way.

In one of the Buddhist scriptures, a short story teaches the same wisdom beautifully.

The Fearful King- a Buddhist Tale

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom in which people used to follow a strange ritual while choosing their king.

They would make a ruler for 5 years and after that, the king was supposed to go to a forest for penance and die eventually. It was necessary for the king to obey the rule for the welfare of the kingdom.

The forest was highly dangerous- full of wild animals and poisonous snakes. Those who went there died within a few days.

Now when the time came for the last descendent of the erstwhile ruler to be the king, he refused the offer out of fear of the future.

When everyone insisted on making him the king, he said, “I have no problem in becoming your king but what will happen to me after 5 years? I’ll have to go to that scary forest and die.”

Then his Guru came to him and said, “I will give you a solution for that, first you wear the crown and sit on the throne.” He said, “Since you are assuring me, I will become the king.”

He became the King of the land and went to his Guru for further guidance.

Now his Guru said, “Take every measure that you can for your people’s welfare, spend some time in devotion and meditation, and refrain from spending all your ruling period in indulgence and pleasures. These five years will shape your whole life and so use it in such a way that your fear of the future may vanish.”

Now the King said, “Tell me what to do for that?”

His Guru said, “Utilize all your powers unconditionally not only for your people’s welfare, but also for changing that thick and dangerous forest.

Start making roads there, establish educational institutions, cut down useless trees and shrubs, establish colonies there and turn it into a beautiful city. Also, make plans for agricultural growth on that land and cultivate useful herbs and shrubs that can remove diseases.

Also, make cow shelters on the same land and bring a white revolution. Plant trees and turn it into a clean and green city. And do all this in these 5 years.”

Now that king dedicated all his time for the same purpose and transformed the whole forest in a beautiful city. It became a wonderful landmark of the old kingdom in which people wanted to live now.

Finally, his tenure came to an end and he said to his people, “Throw me to that forest now according to the ritual.”

But unsurprisingly, his people showered flowers upon him and urged him to be the ruler of the land forever.

The Message in the Story

Through this beautiful story, it is clear that the future could be painful, full of sorrow and danger. If you have the opportunity to change that at a young age, then do it wholeheartedly. If you’ll misuse your young age and the golden time period, your future will be painful and if you’ll utilize it effectively, making preparations for tomorrow, your future will give you happiness and delight.

Anybody can take a lesson from this story and live fearlessly and intelligently in the present time in order to stay away from the fear of the future. Nevertheless, it’s true that almost everybody worries about what will happen in the future. It causes a lot of fear and anxiety.

Yet, you can manage your fear and deal with the unknown by understanding certain things.

The Future is unpredictable

No one can predict what may happen in the future with 100% certainty. Use this uncertainty for your advantage and live fearlessly now while taking wise actions keeping in the mind your expectations from your future.

Focus on ‘Now’

Learn to take it a single day at a time and so instead of thinking about how you’ll get through the rest of the week or month, focus on today. Each day is an opportunity to learn new things and that may include learning how to deal with uncertainties. You can use this knowledge to resolve any problem in the future.

Meditate and be Creative

Learn relaxation techniques and meditate under the guidance of your Guru and also try to find something creative to do in order to get your mind off of any stress and anxiety. Develop hobbies and do an activity that may give you a fresh perspective on things. It will distract you from mindless worries.

Hence, understand that worrying about the future is a futile thing. What matters is how you are spending your present days. If your present is going on effectively with preparations for tomorrow, then your future will also be alright naturally.

So, stop worrying and start living in the present moment.