You awaken disoriented, but unharmed. Chained to a wall, but otherwise uninhibited. Around you, there are more people coming to, and although there are many stories to be had, no one has any answers as to where you are, or why you were taken. Some cry over missing their families, while others cower in fear at the prospect of being held hostage. You do your best to make sense of the situation, no happier than anyone else in your present predicament, but knowing that analytics give you comfort. Less of the, ‘why,’ about your abduction and more of the, ‘where,’ and ‘what,’ preoccupy your thoughts. If you can figure out where you are, and what you are being transported in, then you can possibly surmise where it is you are going and consequently, how to escape. A plane would mean another country might be the destination of your captors, while a boat might point to a deserted island. Either way, return home is possible. But, what if neither of those things are correct? What if you are not being transported over sea, or in the sky, but through… space? As far-fetched as the latter option may seem, the more time you spend with your faceless captors, the more it makes sense. Dread engulfs reason as you and your fellow abductees disembark. The landscape, lush and foreign, confirms your fears. This is not Earth.
Shock, followed by a sinking feeling takes the place of dread in the pit of your stomach as the ship that carried you, rises above the unfamiliar tree line and disappears into a distant sky. There is an announcement made by the natives of this planet that you are now their slave soldiers in a civil war you have no stake in. You let that sink in as the other humans around you cry and moan inconsolably. Allowing yourself a few moments, you assess how you feel. Fear is certainly there, as well as anger, but one thing above all is clear. No matter what, you will fight your captors and survive, even if you know you’ll never see your home world again.
Shock, followed by a sinking feeling takes the place of dread in the pit of your stomach as the ship that carried you, rises above the unfamiliar tree line and disappears into a distant sky. There is an announcement made by the natives of this planet that you are now their slave soldiers in a civil war you have no stake in. You let that sink in as the other humans around you cry and moan inconsolably. Allowing yourself a few moments, you assess how you feel. Fear is certainly there, as well as anger, but one thing above all is clear. No matter what, you will fight your captors and survive, even if you know you’ll never see your home world again.
Sounds daunting doesn’t it? The prospect of being forcibly removed and then thrust into serving people that have very little to no stock in your well-being, is horrifying. Not an uncommon tale, particularly for the ancestors of yours truly, but the question remains, why do some who have been left in this sort of situation survive, even flourish, while others slowly wilt away and perish? The answer to that, my friends, is learning to live in the now. How can one, even in the brightest of situations, expect to propel themselves into the future, if they keep their minds firmly anchored in the past? I’m not by any means saying that this is easy or even fair, but I am insurmountably thankful that my ancestors found the strength and courage to go on after being kidnapped from Africa, and then made to face head-on the many atrocities forced upon them.
The key, which we all have within ourselves even though it may be hard to find, is for one to do their very best to put their emotions aside. Acknowledge them, assess their purpose, and then put them in a mental box if they are not helpful. For instance, fear is not helpful. Acknowledging fear of a certain situation is fine, but allowing it to fester can cause one to forgo the art of critical thinking, and act rashly. I.e., running out of the house screaming when a small spider appears, instead of killing or capturing it. Anxiety though, fear’s college educated cousin, can in spurts be helpful. Just like fire, if kept under control, anxiety can be useful, causing the mind to sharpen during an adversity, and helping the person to prioritize their thoughts by issues that present the most immediate or lasting harm. Conversely though, just like that light and warmth giving fire, if left unchecked and allowed to roam freely, fear’s degree toting cousin can become just as debilitating as crippling college debt. If you know you can’t control your anxiety once it gets loose, acknowledge its presence, and then put it in a box.
Lastly, one of the greatest ways to allow the future to flourish, is vision control. How one sees the present, will without a doubt affect whether or not they are able to release the past and walk into the future. Acknowledging the bad in the past, while looking for and accepting the good in the present, can help one envision a future that is possibly better. Even if things seem dire, it is not a betrayal to oneself to concede that something caused you a moment of happiness during a time where none is supposed to be found. I am not intimating that this is an easy thing to do. In the novel, Shaker by C.C. Prestel , Shaker had to force himself to remain in the present and hope for a better future, even while being used as a slave soldier in a war where none of his people would ever be one of the winners. How did he do this? His love for Leesah spurred him on, thoughts of his son spurred him on, even hopes that one day, he’d no longer have to fight, spurred him on. Shaker also accepted the beauty of his surroundings when he had the opportunity to admire them, and made lasting friendships despite hardship. But, the one thing that he learned he’d have to do quickly was release any hope of returning back home to Earth. This does not mean that he forgot about it. Shaker remembered the good times he had there, missing his friends and family. He also remembered his time on the interstellar slave ship, and all the death and sickness that he experienced firsthand. What he didn’t do however, was allow any of these memories to anchor him to the moors of his past.
We will all experience trying times, and whether or not the worst of them are in our past, or yet still to come, the one thing that we must remember, is to stay in the now. The past has already happened, we can’t change that. The future is yet to arrive, we can’t touch that. But the present, the now, is firmly within each and everyone of our grasps. What we do with it will determine if we are able to let the past perish, and the future flourish.
