What Will Your Life Be Like on Monday, March 5, 2035?

Obnoxiously stating the obvious: that’s 9 years from now (or if you speak my language, 468 Mondays from now).

Will you be dead?

Will you be alive?

Will you be acting like you’re alive if you are still alive 😳?

I usually fast-forward to our deathbeds for some good-old-fashioned-forced-reflection, and yet I am aware that contemplation is possible beyond the borders of hypothetical hospice. Picking a random date into the future can be more resonant for some of us—and not just because it avoids the drama of death. So let’s take a break from the mortality musings (just this once) and indulge in a more accessible thought experiment.

Imagine it’s Monday, March 5, 2035. (We won’t even begin to hypothesize about the condition of the world; let’s just keep this exercise to All Things You for the sake of “things in my control” and all.)

• How old will you be?
• Where will you likely be living?
• What will you look like, and how will you be physically feeling?
• Who will get to be in your life—what relationships will you maintain/ grow/ create?
• What will a typical day look like?
• What things will bring you joy?
• What things will you have shed from your life between now and then (e.g., attitudes, tasks, obligations, people, etc.)?
• What will make you feel a sense of purpose?
• What will make you feel most alive?
• What will you be looking forward to beyond this date of 3/5/35?
• If you will likely be dead by this date, how will you want to be remembered?
• What scares you to think about this far into the future?
• What changes might you need to start making now, to ensure 3/5/35 looks the way you want it to?
• What do you want your life to look like between now and 3/5/35?
• What does it feel like to imagine your life 9-ish years from now?

Awareness is the precursor to change.

If you look into the crystal ball and worry that you’ll be bored/ cardiovascularly challenged/ lonely/ still overwhelmed with work/ broke/ whatever doesn’t sound so peachy… the good news is that you can do something today to positively steer the course of your life.

If you look into the crystal ball and imagine something fantastical for your life 9-ish years from now, you get to take action to make sure your dreams don’t fall by the wayside.

If you look into the crystal ball and feel optimistic that life is just going to get better and better, woo hoo! Keep doing more of what you’re doing.

If you were able to look into a crystal ball 9 years ago and see yourself today, what would your reaction be to the way you are living your life today? Does that impact the way you feel about shaping this next almost-decade ahead?

I hope it’s clear through these questions that You Are Mostly in Control. There are oodles of external circumstances that impact our lives, sure, and yet we’re the ones steering the ship, regardless. This responsibility to Live is daunting and also such a gift, is it not?

Cheers to these next 468 Mondays, if we’re lucky enough to get to experience them. Let’s to them justice! And let’s all meet on 3/5/36 for some sort of “we killed it” celebration… in Paris? It’s a date.