Recently, I have stayed awake at night, thinking about the future and all my dreams and ambitions for it. My biggest fear is the great darkness of the unknown, creeping up on me to whisper thoughts saying “what if I don’t achieve it? What if I fail?”. The thought drags me down with it, spiralling into a wreck of nerves and emotions. This is something prevalent amongst my age group, especially as we move from childhood to adulthood, looking at universities, and pushing through to the next point of the well-trodden path called life.

But what if we were to stop? What if we were to pause for a while and appreciate what we have, not thinking of it as one small task to check off the list? If we slow down and take a look at everything we have, we might start to notice a weight lift from our shoulders. If we start to appreciate everything we have right now and be grateful for everything we have already achieved - whether that be big or small - relief might swell and replace the anxious thoughts.

One quote that I have heard recently by President John F. Kennedy says, ‘Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly’. This shows all of us, I think, that we have to go through the lows to get to the highs, and we should not be afraid to fail, because it is what helps us to learn and grow. We can not let the fear of failure stop us from enjoying the everyday life.

So, let’s not forget who we have been in the past, who we are now, and who we will become. Let’s appreciate the people we have, no longer know, and those we are still yet to meet. Let’s think about what we can do now to make just even tomorrow better. Take each day step by step, and then suddenly, you will be in the future you think so much about now.

Thinking of the future can be scary, it can be something that keeps you up at night. But I think that if think of what we have been, who we are now, and the people we will be tomorrow, the future might just be a little bit less dark and gloomy.