And into the future

According to my childhood diary, at 2010, I officially enter 'The Future.' Here I am, Future! Bring on that flying car and inter-space travel. Although we might not have reached the sci-fi future visualized by some, we have made surprising progress in some unexpected directions.

In just the past ten years, as we've moved from a new millennium to this new decade, we've made considerable strides. Instead of paranoia about Y2K, we just live in fear of strangers sneezing virus strands on the subway. No, but seriously, in 2000, how many of you out there might have guessed we would ring in this year with a minority President? How many thought we would be talking about climate change in every single living room (no matter what is actually said about climate change), and factoring it into many major business decisions? I certainly never would have guessed the various bends my own life has taken, much less the market shift back to organic foods - a new name to a very old concept. We've shifted from globalization back to localization. The internet has become fast and accessible in almost any corner of the world, and drastically changed our culture. Unfortunately, we've also seen the rise of terrorism and natural disasters in the last ten years. In many ways, we have more challenges now than ever before. But this is why I keep reading. And I keep listening, and thinking. We need constructive steps and methods to solve the financial crisis BY solving the environmental crisis.

It was 2000 that I first went to work in Yosemite National Park, which steered me down a new course in life altogether. I'm so pleased with where I am in life at the start of 2010 - fresh MBA in hand, and the rest of my life ahead of me. I'm also encouraged with the difference I see in our thoughts and conversations in the last ten years, and I can't wait to reflect on the accomplishments we will make between 2010 and 2020. While I don't normally get too excited for New Years Eve - it is just another night, after all - I have enjoyed thinking back on the important moments to me in the last ten years. Whether it's your team's Superbowl victory or new people in your life, it's fun to think about how far we've all come.

So on the eve of the Future, although I am not exactly hurdling through space on my work commute, I do think we have laid the groundwork towards a paradigm shift. And that gives me reason for hope as I prepare to begin again.