Often what we tell ourselves about the events of our lives and the meaning we give our different life phases can affect not only the way we see ourselves, but also affect our future.

I know many people who believe their best years were when they were growing up, or when they were in their twenties. Others still believe that they reach their prime and have their best years in their thirties, and then after that it’s all downhill. Still others think that they only reach their peak when they hit forty, and who knows what after that!

This belief always fascinated me, because I remember as a child I told myself that my life would only get better with each passing year. Looking back on my life now, I can see how important this belief has been to me, and how it will serve me as the years pass by. It has turned out to be truer than I could have foreseen back then.

If we believe that our best occurred in the past, it leaves us little to look forward to. Everything we believe to be the best – our best laughs, our best loves, our best triumphs – have already occurred and the future is uncertain at best, and something to be dreaded at worst.

But if we believe with every passing day, month and year, that things will get better and better, what level of anticipation and surprise awaits us around every corner? Since we control our thoughts, our mind, we do get to choose the way we look at our life and the meaning we assign to the things that have occurred, as well as the meaning we choose to give the future – why not focus on how things can be and will be better?

Learn from the past, because its purpose is to teach us to be better people. Look forward to a promising future, because we are all creators in our own way. But don’t let the past or the future cloud your appreciation of the present moment because this will set you free.

What is the self-fulfilling prophecy for your life?

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