The future.

That is a scary thought, isn't it? There are sometimes when I go to fall asleep at night, that thoughts suddenly cross my mind with questions: What does my future hold? What if this or that happens and it affects my future? Why am I worrying so much about the future when I'm holding onto things that are out of my control? It startles me and it isn't until I really think about the past and the future, that I calm down and rest assured that everything is going to be fine. The thoughts and questions pass, as my mind rests for another day ahead.

Now, people are always going to question your process of handling what happened then and what's happening now. That is human nature. All we want is for others to understand what is going through our head, even though we may still be sorting it out ourselves. Our minds are so complex that sorting through what happened, what is happening, and what may happen is like trying to organize a huge mess of papers: we attempt to sort it according to subject, like categories, and if it doesn't fit, we immediately scrap it without a second thought. What we don't realize is that some of the notions, thoughts, and ways of coping with issues are affecting how we may handle similar situations in the future. We grow up, we have life experiences and hopefully, we mature enough to find better ways to handle the future.

When I was younger, I didn't know what my future would hold. I hit roadblocks and brick walls along the way, trying to knock them down with what I knew. It wasn't until high school that a song made me realize that I was not in control of my future. The song is called "Already There" by Casting Crowns and the major point of the song is this: even though it is hard to understand why things in life are happening, where it may or may not take us, God is already there. Ever since then, I have held onto this promise that God holds my future. I'm not scared, because he is what I live for. He is already there and all he's doing is hoping that we accept his guidance, allowing him lead us into the unknown.

The unknown is frightening and scary. Most people want to know what's going on, but the reality is, we honestly don't know. We think we do, but we don't. The election, for example, and the inauguration, are scary to all of us, whether we voted for one candidate or the other or neither of them. The reason I'm not scared? I'm not living in fear, waking up everyday wondering what decision the government makes. The President may be in charge of the United States, but he is not in charge of me or any of us. We can't blame the government for every poor decision we as people in the human race make. We choose the behavior, we choose the consequences, and all the protesting in the world about 'he is not my president' is not going to change that. Give him a chance, because everyone deserves one, whether they deserve it or not. When we take the time to really think instead of emotionally responding to things with hate, anger, indifference and frustration, we see the light. Worrying gets people nowhere and hate only brings in more hate.

Whether people like it or not, he is our next President. We have to make a decision: are we going to fear the future or embrace it? If we run in fear, we're fools and cowards, because we'd rather hide behind our opinions and feelings than face the truth and reality people in front of us are saying. Embracing the future means no matter what comes our way, we face it head on, hold our heads up high and we keep fighting. Take a step forward and no matter what happens, instead of running and hiding, embrace the future.