He say “one and one and one is three”  – the Beatles, from Come Together.

When making predictions about the future, the exact opposite is equally likely.

I want to expand on the idea from yesterday. I shared a sequence of events around my canceled flight from Orlando, predictions about the future that all turned out to be false, as the exact opposite actually happened.

Predictions are actually judgments about the future, and we have seen that judgment is really wasted effort. If we cannot predict the long-term effect on our lives of an event right now, how can we possibly predict how we will feel in the future? Judgments also set us up for disappointment, because we “invest” in a certain outcome and then feel bad when we don’t get what we want.

Predictions really run rampant in the areas of weather, sports, and the financial markets. In these areas it is really easy to appreciate that often the exact opposite of what is predicted happens. Who predicted Seattle to beat New Orleans in the NFL playoffs? Who picked Butler to be in the championship game during March Madness last year? Who picked a real estate collapse, a foreclosure crisis, gold to be trading at $1,200 dollars ounce, and whether it will be sunny or cloudy today?

I believe you can find happiness more easily and effortlessly if you don’t make judgments about the future. If you can’t predict the long-term effect of an event in the present, like my canceled flight, then you also can’t predict the long-term effects of events in your future.

It feels so much more peaceful to be “okay” with however things turn out, sunny or cloudy, financial markets going up or down, or your flight being on time or not. Accept and embrace the unlimited possibilities for your future. Be comfortable with the unknown. If you can find comfort in the unknown, you will feel secure and safe, because the unknown is the only guaranteed prediction we have about the future. And that is a really wonderful thing. We really wouldn’t want it any other way.