There was a time I would’ve given anything to know the future. To have my fortune told. To know what was up ahead so that I would be fully prepared and already have a plan mapped out. But the older I get, nothing could sound worse to me. All that knowing. All that pressure. Already living in the joy or pain in anticipation of events yet to come. I don’t want to do it.

One of my new favorite expressions is “What’s coming will come and we’ll meet it when it does.” This idea settles me. The idea that we won’t get ahead of ourselves; We’ll cross each bridge as it comes to us.  It’s okay to live with unanswered questions. It’s okay to live with a lot of not-knowing, taking life as it comes.

I want to embrace the unknown, the uncertainty, the possibilities. I want to let life surprise me in all the best possible ways. I want the unknown to feel like champagne bubbles instead of anxiety. Because here’s the thing: Knowing takes away the before. Once you know something, there is no longer a before, there is only living with what is now known.

Once you know something, you can’t unknow it. Sometimes the unknown is a gift.

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“And now I’m glad I didn’t know
The way it all would end, the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I’d have had to miss the dance”

-Garth Brooks, The Dance