When my son was in high school, he created a vision for his future life. He wanted to go to college and major in Japanese and Asian culture. He wanted to study and travel in Asia as a part of his education. He was not sure exactly how he would use this degree; he just knew it was where his passions were directing him.
As he entered college and his studies progressed, he had some guidance from advisors and professors and decided to update his vision to include a second major in psychology. He met his vision. He got both degrees and was able to travel and study in Japan. Then his vision took a new direction. He wanted to go to grad school and get a degree in cultural social work. He wanted to work with immigrants and immigration. He found a program that included one year of study in China and was on his way.
I think that this is a similar story for most of us. As we are completing high school, we make plans, set a course, and create a vision for our futures. Will we get a job? Will we go to a technical school, community college, college? Will we take a year or more off and travel, or follow some other path? How we come to these decisions and how we decide on what paths to take are different for everyone. The key to moving forward in our lives is setting a direction; creating our vision.
Visioning is relying on our knowledge, experience, and imagination to create a plan for the future. We do it throughout our personal and work life. Some call it goals setting, I prefer to use the term vision and/or visioning. For me, visioning carries hope and a promise of rising above.
Just as what happened in my son’s life, visions can and should change throughout our lives. When I was younger, I envisioned my education, later my career, then my family and now my husband and I are creating a new vision for our retirement and wisdom years. Our visions need to be flexible and fluid. Just look back on the last 18th months and you can see the importance of having the ability to update, change, even redirect our visions.
Henrieta’s and my vision for the work that we do together has been rewritten and redesigned a few times in recent months. We had to leave some visions behind, and those closures can be difficult. Closing the doors to some of our visions allowed new and different doors to open. In addition, I have to admit that the process and the discovery of possibilities was exciting and empowering.
My son is now starting his first job after grad school. He is following the path that he created years before. It has taken some unexpected twists and turns, but it has been a guidance system for him to follow. Taking time to envision the possibilities that are open to us and to lay a path to achieve our visions is a part of personal growth, self-care, and being our authentic selves.
“Do something today that your future will thank you for!” - Anonymous
Reflections
What previous visions have you created?
Which ones have you achieved? Did they need to be modified in the process?
Where there any visions that you let go of?
What are your current visions, where do you find hope and peace in them?