If Spock were here, he and Bones - the good doctor from the Starship Enterprise - would cure all our ills. How simple it would be if only we could go back in time to fix all those ‘if only' situations, then zoom forward at warp speed to ensure a perfect future.
Despite the fact that this is the real world, modern technology has actually come up with some innovative ideas to help. There is a free website www.futureme.org which lets you send an email to yourself up to 30 years in the future! What a wonderful way to concentrate your mind and do something positive for yourself. By so doing, it encourages you to think about the person you would really like to be.
According to the website founder, most users fall into two camps. There are those who are trying to remember past experiences, so that they can learn from their mistakes, and others who are looking more to the future in order to set goals for themselves.
One participant bombarded herself with questions: ‘Are you an aunty? Did you ever pluck up the courage to propose to your high school friend? Are you married to an Italian chef?' The problem that springs to mind with all these futuristic questions is that it depends very much on your mental age when you first write that email. For example, if you are a teenager, then your questions may well seem pretty juvenile to your future (presumably more mature) self. Paradoxically, there is a film on general release right now about the strange Benjamin Button, who by some freak of nature starts out as an 80 year old and travels back in time to his youth. One wonders what sort of future message he would send himself?
Clearly, playing with time can have a strong influence on our psyche. It forces us to reassess the values we hold right now. Some life-coach therapists have been known to ask their clients to imagine their own funeral or write their own obituary. A notable example was the legendary Spike Milligan, who famously promised to write on his future tombstone the words ‘I told you I was ill'. After his death, his family had the very difficult task of overriding his comic wishes in the interests of the solemnity of the occasion.
There is no doubt that visualising how others will remember you can help you examine your own behaviour. The very act of picturing the ultimate outcome of our actions can spur us into action. Many philosophers agree. The important thing is that future goals should not be random thoughts. By positively connecting your future to your present, you are effectively asking ‘how can I get from A to Z?'
Those who are contemplating writing their future email are actively asked on the website whether they wish their message to be made public. Clearly, a public declaration of intent is more powerful than a private one because it risks shaming yourself in front of others or having to justify your failure. This is an effective tool in spurring us one to achieve our goals.
In today's world of couples living together without going through a highly public marriage ceremony, this is the equivalent of making a private future message. How more effective is the posting of the banns and participating in a large wedding ceremony in front of a large group of your friends and family. By so doing, you and your spouse are announcing to the world that this is your binding agreement and let no man put it asunder. Not only does this lend weight to your vows, but it makes it more difficult to backtrack and announce to the world that you ‘messed up'.
In realistic terms, some philosophers believe that instead of 30 years, it would be better to set your future email to just one year ahead. That way, it will motivate you over the next 12 months by reminding you that you are actually going to receive that future message.
Whatever method you choose to motivate yourself in the future, it certainly helps to voice your goals to a friend or member of the family and have faith in a positive outcome. Fear of failure can overwhelm some people, leading to their giving up before they've even started. ‘When we beat ourselves up for not achieving something it encourages further failure'. How much better to find a supportive voice deep within ourselves, nurturing and supporting.
As Bones from the Enterprise would have said when looking to his own future:‘it's my own life, Jim, but not as I know it'.
