Using history to predict the future is a common occurrence in society. People who play the stock market do it, oddsmakers for professional sports betting do it, and the government does it.
Trends can be useful in many ways to provide a framework for what we think is going to happen.
But at the same time, it can be very limiting to assume that things will happen the way they always have. Even expecting others in your life to be as they have always been can be unfair.
While it can be helpful to have a certain conception or expectation of how things tend to work in any given situation, it can also stop you from seeing new possibilities.
We impose barriers and restrictions on what we feel is possible and what can’t be done. These limits are put into place by what has already occured.
When assumptions are made, the uniqueness of each situation is not allowed to unfold. Expectations can be too restrictive.
The past doesn’t necessarily predict the future. Statistics only tell part of the story. Every situation is different with untold numbers of factors influencing the final outcome.
No two situations will ever occur exactly the same. This opens up the possibility of new results to happen, and that is what makes life exciting to live.
Going against the trends that we prescribe to life can allow us to see opportunities that others are missing. This can lead to scores in the stock market when others are experiencing loss, profitable decisions made when everyone else is complaining about unpredictability, and the satisfaction of being present and flowing with the now.
What makes life worth living is the anticipation of newness that comes with each day. Confining the present moment to what has already happened takes the excitement of discovery out of the equation.
Life is too short to live it the same way every day. There is beauty in accepting that nothing stays the same. There is a sense of relief when the constraints of expectation are released.
No two sunsets are the same, nor would they be special if they were. Nature creates in newness every moment, and change is the one constant there is.
Continents move, oceans expand and contract, things grow and die. Everything looks nothing like it looked in the past.
I am not the same person I was 10 years ago, five years ago, or even six months ago. As I have new experiences, it changes how I respond in every moment.
Because I recognize that I change constantly, I allow others to do the same without my trying to limit their expansion. This frees us to be our authentic selves.
Letting go of the need to define situations by what has already happened can open up opportunities that you wouldn’t have dreamed possible.
When Roger Bannister visualized and believed that he could run a mile in under 4 minutes, he made something real that no one thought could happen. And then suddenly lots of people were doing it.
Don’t allow the expectations and results of the past to stop you from trying new things. All it takes is one person to change the limits of what we believe is possible to open up a brand new world.