Look Into My Crystal Ball

The future. What the world would give to know its secrets.

The future. What people would sacrifice to know its contents.

The future.

Like everyone else in the universe, I get caught up thinking about what my life will turn out to be. Will I accomplish anything worthwhile? Will I leave a legacy my children will be proud of? Will my life matter when I am no longer on the planet?

Only the future knows.

Or does it?

There's a group of women – 30 years my senior – with whom I spend quite a bit of time. I tell them all the time that they’re my friends and me in 30 years. I truly believe they are equivalent to looking into my own crystal ball. I watch their lives and friendships, and in them I see myself and my own friends. This group of women, a group who has seen death, divorce and drama affect one another for longer than I've been alive, are really what the future is about.

Maybe we don't know the specifics of tomorrow. Certainly, we don't know how everything is going to end up in 30 years. But I have learned from these women that the future will happen regardless of what I do. I can't control the circumstances of tomorrow, but I can nurture and invest in the relationships (both with women and with men) that will be my support when the circumstances of life seem to control me.

Having a crystal ball and seeing the future would be nice in some aspects, but then I'm afraid we'd become so overwhelmed by life that we'd forget to live. Besides, there's no need to know what the future holds, as long as we surround ourselves with people who'd stand by us even if they did know all the mess that is to come.