Future-tripping. Future what? Future-tripping is an actual clinical term that my daughter the psychologist recently explained after she unceremoniously told me to STOP future-tripping, also known as anticipatory anxiety: when one worries about something that hasn鈥檛 even happened yet. This anxiety comes from overthinking, from an attempt to over-engineer the future as if it鈥檚 all within our control. Which, of course, it isn鈥檛. The thinking goes, 鈥渋f I just worry enough about ____ (fill in the blank), I can control the outcome.鈥� Which, of course, we cannot. And that makes us anxious. Future-tripping stems from anxiety and it feeds anxiety; quite the vicious cycle. And we all future-trip to some extent. It becomes problematic, however, when we lose the here-and-now for some nebulous what if down some imaginary road.

If we spend our time worrying about things which we have no control over, that鈥檚 a recipe for misery. Future-tripping is often rooted in our desire and often unconscious wishing that we can control a situation or an outcome, when in fact, we can鈥檛. To quote Timon from The Lion King, 鈥�Life鈥檚 just gonna happen, and we got to roll along with it.鈥� But we do have the power to choose how we want to feel and react each step of the way. It鈥檚 totally human to want to control a situation, but since we realistically can鈥檛 know what the future holds, changing the framing of our worries frees us to handle uncertain possibilities.

The reality is that we live in very uncertain times. 2020 was no picnic, and 2021 is still topsy turvy for many of us. I have the pleasure and privilege to work with incredibly capable, high-performing, achievement-oriented, academically-and-otherwise exceptional students. To most people looking at these superstars on paper and in person, they present as exceptional, destined for great opportunities and experiences, future leaders, movers and shakers, global powerhouses for positive change. But to many of my community鈥檚 parents, their future-tripping removes them from the reality of who their sons and daughters are. I repeatedly hear, 鈥淚t鈥檚 so competitive, what if ____ (fill in the names of sons and daughters) doesn鈥檛 get into such-and-such prestigious high school? How will he/she get into such-and-such prestigious college??鈥� Or, 鈥淲hat if_____ doesn鈥檛 get into ANY high school???鈥� While this is almost never the case in my 16+ years of experience as director of the Caroline D. Scholarship program鈥攖hink about the ripple effect when parents鈥� hand-wringing worries manifest as real in the minds and psyches of their sons and daughters. When the students I work with–who have already been vetted by experts in the admissions and education world and selected as CDB Scholars– internalize or vocalize these doubts, any semblance of their already shaky teenage self-confidence, self-esteem, and self-worth crumble. The fallout is that these young people are too often reduced to questioning ANY of their choices or decisions and lose the reality of who they are, all that they鈥檝e accomplished and all that they鈥檙e capable of achieving. They start to manifest many of the negative thought processes that come from future-tripping.

When parents and students become so focused on what they think lies ahead as anxiety-producing, scary and negative, they lose any reality of the world they鈥檙e living in NOW, in the present. I am constantly reminding the high school seniors I work with that their college application process is only one aspect of their highly anticipated senior year. To focus entirely on impossible- to- predict what if鈥檚 pertaining to where their next chapter will take them completely negates the experiences, opportunities and perks they鈥檝e worked for the last three years to arrive at and enjoy as high school seniors.

Understanding what future-tripping is and how detrimental it can be, how do we modify this all too human behavior? We can shift our perspective by changing the language we use when speaking about anxiety. We can focus on the next steps we鈥檙e actually taking to get through uncertainties鈥攄oing research to clarify facts from hearsay, assure that we have sufficient time, energy and focus to do the work we need to complete an assignment, application or test prep. While this doesn鈥檛 necessarily guarantee a favorable outcome, it set us up for success in the present when we can honestly self-assess that we鈥檝e done our best, the maximum effort we can do for any task or to achieve a certain objective. We can look to family and close friends who are a constant source of support. Also, we have our faith/religion, movement (exercise, sports, yoga, dance), journaling, music, books, movies, even favorite TV shows to soothe us in times of stress. We each have the tools and people to help us navigate difficult times. Lean into your support systems by reaching out to loved ones when you feel anxiety taking over. Having vulnerable conversations with people you trust can often release future-tripping episodes.

When we have expectations about and try to control the future, we set ourselves up for hard times. We can鈥檛 control the world or other people, jobs, school admits. Life happens. And sometimes in the moment it seems good and sometimes it seems less good. Whatever the actual circumstances and facts, we always have a choice of how and what to think. You can spend today worrying about tomorrow. You can borrow trouble, make yourself feel all kinds of terrible imagining all the worst things, but when you do, not only do you continue to keep yourself anxious, uncomfortable, and disquieted. You absolutely miss out on the beauty and grace of the present moment.

It’s all going to work out, it really is. Maybe not exactly as you thought it would or exactly when you thought it would, but sometimes the best things that happen are totally unplanned. Ask yourself, 鈥淚s this situation in my control? If not, how can I adapt and move on, move forward?鈥� When you learn to be open-minded and roll with the punches, your fear of what if鈥檚 can lessen a great deal.
An 优蜜视频 colleague shared a quote from Kung Fu Panda鈥檚 Master Oogway that鈥檚 an apt takeaway and antidote to curtail future-tripping:

鈥淵esterday is history, Tomorrow is mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it鈥檚 called THE PRESENT.鈥�

There was a time when children were taught to be 鈥渟een and not heard,鈥� and yet today, many of the world鈥檚 most powerful leaders and harbingers for change are under the age of 20. Here are five inspiring young people who are trailblazing for a new generation of activists and innovators.

1. Greta Thunberg: Climate change activist

Age: 17

Greta Thunberg started out as a lone protestor advocating for climate change policy and was eventually named . Since photos of her holding a sign outside the Swedish Parliament went viral, she has become the leader in a mass youth movement for climate change activism. In September 2019, 4 million people joined her in the global climate strike, many of them being school-aged youth who walked out of classrooms and schools. She has become a symbol of youth activism and continues to meet with some of the world鈥檚 most influential leaders, speaking at climate rallies, forums and parliaments.

2. The Parkland School Students: Gun control activists

Ages: 19, 20

Since the devasting school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018, many surviving students such as Emma Gonzalez, Jaclyn Corin, and David Hogg have become the of a large youth movement for stricter gun control laws. The students founded Never Again MSD, a coalition of the larger Never Again organization, and led the powerful march and demonstration 鈥淢arch for Our Lives鈥� in Washington, D.C. They continue to lead and inspire youth activists who are advocating for gun control policies.

3. Thandiwe Abdullah: Co-founder of the Black Lives Matter LA Youth Vanguard

Age: 15

Abdullah is the co-founder of the Black Lives Matter LA Youth Vanguard and in 2018 was named one of TIME鈥檚 most influential teens. In the wake of movements like Never Again, she called for the youth gun control movement to become more intersectional, particularly when it comes to children of color. The LA Youth Vanguard organizes students and adult allies in the over-policing of Los Angeles鈥� public schools. The group also works closely with the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) labor union to campaign against the criminalization of black youth.

4. Jack Cable: Computer programmer, 鈥渨hite hat鈥� hacker, and business owner

Age: 19

Many of us think of hackers as masterminds who use their tech brilliance to promote widespread havoc, sometimes for personal gain and sometimes for the sake of a joke. Jack Cable is a 鈥渨hite hat hacker,鈥� a tech mastermind who finds and reports bugs rather than taking advantage of them. Cable is a student at Stanford University and the winner of the HackIT Cup in Kyiv, Ukraine, where the one-and-only Steve Wozniak presented his award. He also founded Lightning Security, a firm that helps cryptocurrency companies protect themselves against traditional hackers.

5. Sheku Kanneh-Mason: Cellist

Age: 20

Kanneh-Mason, the first BBC Young Musician to achieve 鈥渢op 40鈥� status with a debut record, began playing the cello as a six-year-old and had won a scholarship to the Junior Academy of the Royal Academy of Music by age nine. He participated on Britain鈥檚 Got Talent in 2015, and he was featured in a BBC documentary entitled Young, Gifted and Classical: The Making of a Maestro the next year. He has since received myriad awards, including the Male Artist of the Year and Critics鈥� Choice Awards at the Classic Brit Awards, the 2019 PPL Classical Award, and the South Bank Sky Arts Breakthrough Award, an honor bestowed on the 鈥渕ost promising young artist across all genres.鈥� In May of 2018, Kanneh-Mason achieved widespread notoriety when he played his cello at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The same year, he was appointed the global ambassador for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. He donated a chunk of his 2018 earnings to his former school, enabling ten students to continue their cello lessons. Kanneh-Mason currently studies at the Royal Academy of Music, and his latest album, Elgar, was released in January of 2020.