The advantage of a clear vision of the future is comparable to that of having a nautical chart compared to someone navigating by sight; the navigator can apprehend what's coming, even if nobody can see it yet. For people with foresight, the causes are generally in the future; they decide that today, tomorrow, in 2 years' time, they'll be there and in such and such a situation; that's how it'll be and they'll be the cause of it, regardless of the hazards encountered along the way. For those without vision, the causes are always in the past; everything happens to them and it's because of...
Confidence is linked to a positive vision of the future, otherwise we wouldn't get so involved in a project; on the contrary, fear projected into the future refers to a negative past and tends to limit us. Many people live with the certainty of being surrounded by potential dangers, a vision stimulated by a combination of media and algorithms. There are better things to do than spend our lives protecting ourselves from highly improbable probabilities, when with a minimum of skill and attention we can control most situations should they arise.
Life's paths are not all marked out, and adventure is made up of the unexpected. Everyone can reveal themselves in action, even better if they see themselves in action in advance. So how can we generate visions of the future that are creative and not backward-looking? How can we free ourselves from the limitations of our social environment? The more knowledge and skills we have, the more confident we can be, the better we can imagine solutions and deal with hazards and contradictions.
The school has a role to play, more in the development of abilities than in prevention, more in imagination than in conformity, more in the future than in the past.
Do you see the school of the future?
Denys Lamontagne - [email protected]
Illustration: Moondance - Pixabay
