THE CHAIR YOU HAVE NOT SAT IN YET

THE CHAIR YOU HAVE NOT SAT IN YET
Life Lesson


Imagine that, for just a moment, you are sitting in a quiet room with two chairs in front of you.
In the first chair sits the person you are today, carrying everything you have lived through, every mistake you have made, every disappointment you have endured, every dream you still carry, and every question you have about where your life is going. This person knows where you have been, but does not know exactly where you are going.
 


In the second chair sits the person you will become ten years from now. That person has already lived the next ten years of your life. They have experienced the things you haven't experienced yet. They have met people you have not met. They have lost some things, gained others, made decisions you haven't made, and survived days you haven't even reached.
 


Now imagine that you are told you may ask your future self only one question. Just one. No second chance, no follow-up question, no opportunity to ask for clarification. What would you ask? Most people would probably ask, Will I be okay? Perhaps that is because, deep down, most of us are frightened by the uncertainty of tomorrow.
We want to know that the road ahead will eventually become easier, that the people we love will be safe, that our dreams will work out, and that all the sacrifices we are making today will eventually mean something.
 


But imagine your future self looks at you for a long moment, smiles gently, and says, I cannot tell you everything that happens, but I can tell you something you desperately need to understand. They lean forward and tell you, You spent far too much of your life worrying about things that never happened. You spent years being afraid of failure when failure was never the thing that was going to destroy you. You delayed dreams because you kept waiting for the perfect moment. You waited until you felt ready. You waited until you had enough money, enough confidence, enough courage, enough time, and enough certainty.
 


Then your future self looks directly into your eyes and says something you may not want to hear. Eventually, you discover that there is no perfect moment. There is always another responsibility, another bill, another problem, another reason to wait, another fear to overcome, another Monday, another month and another year. And before you realise it, the years have passed while you were waiting for life to become convenient enough for you to actually live it.
 


Your future self might tell you about all the dreams you kept putting off. The book you wanted to write. The business you wanted to start. The places you wanted to see. The person you wanted to tell that you loved them. The apology you needed to make. The changes you knew you needed to make in your life. The things you kept saying you would do one day. Then perhaps they would say something that would hurt more than anything else. One day is not a date on the calendar.
 


They would tell you that some of the things you were terrified of never happened. Some of the people whose opinions controlled your decisions eventually forgot what you were worried about. Some of the mistakes you thought would define your entire life became nothing more than memories. Some of the people you were afraid of losing walked away anyway, while people you never expected became incredibly important. Life taught you that you cannot control everything that happens to you, but you can control how much of your life you surrender to fear.
 


Your future self might also tell you that you spent far too much time wondering whether you were good enough. Good enough for the job. Good enough for the relationship. Good enough to follow your dream. Good enough to start again. Good enough to be successful. Perhaps the saddest part is that while you were busy questioning your worth, life was quietly passing you by.
 


You kept waiting to become fearless before you started living boldly. But your future self would tell you that fear never completely disappeared. You simply learned how to move forward with it. You discovered that courage isn't the absence of fear. Courage is feeling the fear, understanding the risk, and taking the first step anyway.


Look again at those two chairs. In one sits the person you are today. In the other sits the person you will become ten years from now. The distance between those two people is not really measured in years. It is measured in choices. Every decision you make today is quietly building the person who will eventually sit in that second chair.
 


That future person will carry the consequences of what you do today. They will live with the opportunities you accepted and the ones you ignored. They will remember the people you loved, the risks you took, the moments you wasted, and the dreams you finally had the courage to pursue. They will know whether you spent those ten years merely surviving or whether, despite everything life threw at you, you actually started living.
 


So perhaps your most important question is not, Will I be okay? Perhaps the better question is, What do I need to start doing today so that the person sitting in that second chair will be proud that I didn't give up?
 


Because one day, whether you are ready or not, you will become that person. You will sit in that second chair and look back at the person you are today. And you will remember every excuse, every hesitation, every opportunity, and every dream. You will remember the moments when you were afraid and chose to continue anyway.
 


So do not wait until you have everything figured out. Do not wait until you are completely fearless. Do not wait for someone to give you permission to become the person you know you can be. Start where you are, with what you have, exactly as you are. Take the first step. Then take another.
 


Because your future is not waiting for you to become a perfect version of yourself. Your future is simply waiting for you to begin.
 


Every morning you wake up, you are one day closer to meeting the person sitting in that second chair.


Make sure that person has something to thank you for.........
 


Composed and Created by: VETERAN
Life Coach, Author, Novelist, Writer, & Poet
Marius F Robbertze
AKA (MFR ™) ©®