So many things or events that we worry about, ponder, discuss, prepare for, fear, hope for, anticipate, and plan for—considering contingencies and consequences. Mostly getting our hopes up or dreading outcomes.

And the vast majority — like almost all of them — never happen.

Yet they bind so much of our energy and attention.

I heard this sentence during a Zen meditation retreat more than 25 years ago:

From the vantage of the coffin, life and all its journey appears as a single straight line.

And yet, our perspective looking forward from the present is that there are many possibilities and related decisions or choices. Consider this: with each event that happens, the straight line continues.

life is a straight line