The only good intention is a forgotten intention. Please be open to the unpredictable future.

I'm going to drink less alcohol this year. I will try to be more patient - in front of my children, neighbors and strangers. I promise that I will not doubt myself that much. I promise myself that I will worry less and work out more. And I'm going to be more relaxed! Oh yes, it’s almost time to make those New Year’s resolutions again.

If you pause for a second and think about it, those good intentions have something paradoxical. We think we are focusing on a future, but in fact all those good intentions actually say something about the life that we have led until then. Anyone who intends to drink less in the coming year thinks that he or she has been drunk too often in the previous year.

In fact, every thought about the future is shaped by the past. Ideally we want the past to teach us something, that our experiences have been useful and prepare us for a future in which we are stronger, wiser and happier. We can only understand life by looking back on it, by evaluating experiences, by analyzing memories and adventures.

But as soon as we feel that we have gained insight, we also want something in return. We want that insight to teach us something. This is where it becomes difficult. Philosopher Søren Kierkegaard already wrote in 1843:

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.

Of course, we constantly relate to the future: we hope, we wish, we are making plans, we wait and we anticipate. Of those good intentions, in real life, often very little comes of it.

To be honest, after a few weeks I mostly forget what my good intentions were. This may be due to my character, but luckily it also has an advantage. According to the French philosopher Jacques Derrida you can distinguish two types of future: le futur and l'avenir.

Le futur is the future of the agenda, of planning and meeting; trips you will make, planned encounters, dinners, deadlines….

However, l'avenir is the undefined future. It is the future that is not there yet, not even in your expectations. It is the future that still has to come to you. It is like an unexpected encounter you could not have foreseen. According to Derrida, this is the real future. A future that is open and free.

Good intentions clearly belong to the more planned futur. But at the same time these intentions often dissipate quickly. They belong to a past, to the moment of old and new, and we have to see if anything come of it at all. At that moment, if we forget our intentions and expectations, the unpredictable future comes into view again: l'avenir.

You cannot prepare yourself for a future like that. It just happens to us all. At least, if we forget our good intentions soon. Be free again!