wishes are memories coming from our future

In ‘Letters on Life’, Rainer Maria Rilke shared this thought with a reader. This not the type of quote that offers salvation, in fact, it may not strike you at all. Your eyes can easily pass it by, following the stream of sentences, all smart and filled with unusual sensitivity.

I didn’t realise how simple it is. I stopped reading and analysed each word separately to find the logic. A wish (something I hope for) is a memory (is it possible?) coming (not yet here) from my future (the unknown). I put the sentence together once again to fully grasp its wisdom. Things I hope for are visualisations of things that will appear in my future, as they are all within my reach. This utopian message seemed too good to come from Rilke, who believed that humility in front of life is one the greatest human traits.

I began to wonder what is a difference between a wish and potential? How can we turn it into the future and can we ever suppose we are not capable enough to put ideas into action? How to measure what is realistic and what is just a vague, diaphanous dream? How terrifying this dilemma actually is, pushing us to admit own weakness and filter them through the blurry landscapes of own fate, undefined circumstances that one day will become the future. This way of thinking can discourage the biggest enthusiast, magnify the fears and leave one trembling that soon he’ll be a victim of own expectations.

Rilke stirred some hopes, so I thought I’ll approach his words as a hypothesis, a possibility. Although it provoked certain optimism, I cannot rely solely on things that have not been proved by an example of my own life. In the end, each existence is an individual case study. I just decided to do everything I can to make things work on all levels, from career to self-development, from emotions to physical strength. We all wish that by doing our best, we’ll avoid regret. A future devoid of regret sounds pretty good to me.