The future, as a dimension of time — what comes
after the present or what hasn't happened yet —, is nowadays a motive of
concern for many people. Both individual future and collective future.
Some just wait for events; others fear them, therefore they diminish themselves;
there are those who want the future to happen quickly; but there are some
others who wouldn't like it to happen at all; there are still those who
analyse situations, use their imagination and, exercising their will, try
to shape their future.
Admitting that every cause (thought, word,
attitude) provokes an effect and that in the origin of a certain situation
there is always a cause, we can conclude that the present is a result of
the past and the future will be a result of the present. Or, in other words,
the future is built on the present.
A certain attitude assumed by a person will
cause the respective effects. But, one must notice that the attitude is
the result of a certain thought which is in its origin. Therefore, if an
individual controls his thoughts, he controls his attitudes as well and,
this way, he shapes his future.
In the future of the individual, it seems
realistic and advantageous to think that each of us — although depending
on environmental circumstances — is the main one responsible for what happens
to him, admitting that if Man really wants to prepare his future appropriately,
he has means to do it.
As for the collective future, often people
indicated that humankind will experience difficult times at the end of
this millenium. Science itself admits that the present state of the earth
is not definitive — it can still suffer some sudden transformation, as
has already happened in the past. Many authors are inclined to believe
in a catastrophe caused by heat. Some others admit the great approximation
of a planet that belongs to another solar system and others are worried
about the changes in the quantity of ozone in the stratosphere.
We all know that humanity has been progressively
assuming an anti-natural life-style. We destroy twenty acres of forest
a minute, which means eleven million acres a year. Today every kitchen
has more chemical products than a laboratory a hundred years ago. We make
two hundred tons of highly toxic products a minute. We throw seven million
tons of garbage into the sea each year.
When we drive earth away from its balance,
we have to admit and accept as logical its natural reaction (from Nature
itself); probably, the more unbalanced men's attitudes are, the more drastic
will its reaction be.
However, some philosophers these days — among
them Agostinho da Silva — think that Man in the 21st century will turn
more to his spiritual life, leaving behind the unrestrained material race
in which he has been living in this century.
If we look for intelligent solutions, live
rationally and search for scientific explanations, we will logically build
a better future for humankind, following the path of spiritual knowledge
and balanced attitudes.
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