Are you feeling trapped in the present, unable to envision a brighter future? You’re not alone—and this isn’t just about you. We’re living in a time of polycrisis, where global challenges pile up like never before, leaving many of us paralyzed by uncertainty. But here’s where it gets controversial: Is this feeling of hopelessness a new phenomenon, or have humans always struggled to see beyond the fog of crisis? Let’s dive in.
As a new year dawns, most of us traditionally look ahead with hope and ambition. Yet, I’ve noticed something unsettling: my friends—and I—are finding it increasingly difficult to think beyond the next few days or weeks. When I shared this on social media at the end of 2025, the response was overwhelming. Many agreed: they felt stuck in a bubble of the present, the future obscured by uncertainty. Unlike the calming Buddhist principle of living in the moment, this paralysis feels suffocating, not liberating.
I brought this up with my therapist, Dr. Steve Himmelstein, a clinical psychologist with nearly 50 years of experience. His insight? Most of his clients have ‘lost the future.’ They’re overwhelmed by daily barrages of bad news—economic instability, climate disasters, job insecurity—making it harder to keep moving forward. And this is the part most people miss: the idea of a better future isn’t just a nice thought; it’s a lifeline. It makes life more bearable, hardship more manageable, and creativity possible. Without it, productivity and long-term planning become nearly impossible.
Himmelstein, a student of Viktor Frankl—the Holocaust survivor and author of Man’s Search for Meaning—emphasizes that believing in a stable, brighter tomorrow is essential for survival. Frankl’s ‘tragic optimism’ allowed him to endure unimaginable suffering by focusing on life’s larger meaning. But what would Frankl think of our current crises? Himmelstein pauses: ‘It would scare him, like it’s scaring all of us.’
Here’s the controversial part: Is our inability to envision the future unique to our time, or are we simply more aware of our limitations? Dr. Hal Hershfield, a psychologist at UCLA, argues that our brains aren’t wired to think about distant futures. In fact, we don’t really think about the future—we remember it. When we daydream about tomorrow, we’re essentially creating a memory, a process called ‘episodic future thinking.’ But during times of radical uncertainty, like a polycrisis, this process breaks down. The future feels unknowable, and our ability to plan suffers.
And yet, humans have faced this before. During the Cuban missile crisis, for instance, people had no idea if they’d survive. The difference now? The crises are coming from all sides—political, environmental, economic, and health-related—creating a perfect storm of uncertainty. Social scientists call this a polycrisis, where challenges interact and amplify each other, making it harder to predict anything.
This lack of predictability isn’t just frustrating—it’s paralyzing. In one study, participants reminded of the future’s uncertainty produced 25% fewer possible future events and took longer to do so. Just thinking about uncertainty made it harder for them to recall their hopes and plans. Dr. Daniel Gilbert, a Harvard psychologist, adds that our brains are relatively new to conceptualizing the future. ‘We don’t imagine events correctly,’ he says, ‘and we don’t know who we’ll be when those events happen.’
So, how have other cultures coped with uncertainty? Anthropologist Dr. Daniel Knight studied Greece during its 2008-2010 debt crisis, a period of polycrisis. Greeks turned to history for familiar narratives, comparing their struggles to the 1941 great famine. This helped them see that a brighter future was possible. Others focused on shorter timeframes, prioritizing immediate family and community. Cycling clubs and local gatherings became micro-utopias, a way to reclaim agency in an uncertain world.
History offers hope. The polycrisis of the 1600s—plague, economic collapse, religious strife—gave birth to the Enlightenment. Europeans invested in science, democracy, and sanitation, transforming their future. But here’s the question: Can we do the same today? Or are we too overwhelmed to act?
Getting the future back requires flexibility and self-compassion. Hershfield advises focusing on what’s most likely to happen, not worst-case scenarios. And while it’s tempting to regret past choices, that paralysis can be just as damaging. Instead, let’s plan around our values, even in small ways. As Gilbert reminds us, we’re more resilient than we think. ‘People recover from tragedy faster than they expect,’ he says. ‘We’re a hardy species.’
So, as we step into this new year, let’s ask ourselves: What future do we want to create? And what choices can we make today to get there? The conversation starts now—what’s your take?
