Decades ago, as Ann and I were preparing to get married, my boss, Pontish Yeramyan, a remarkable woman and the founder of Gap International, gave me a challenge:
“Take a walk with your dog and really be with the predictable future of your marriage.”
At the time, I had two divorces behind me, and Ann had one. Statistically speaking, the odds were not in our favor. The predictable future, based on our past, was clear: things would get hard, resentments would build, and one or both of us would eventually walk away. Another marriage would fail.
I did as Pontish suggested. As I walked, I let myself fully confront that future—what it would feel like to live through another breakdown, to see another relationship dissolve, to fail yet again at what mattered most. It wasn’t an easy walk. But it was a necessary one.
Because here’s the thing:
Once we fully acknowledge the predictable future, we gain the power to choose another one.
And that’s exactly what Ann and I did. Instead of being resigned to repeating history, we created a new unpredictable future—one based on partnership, commitment, and growth.
This year, we celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary.
The Predictable Future of Our World
Right now, humanity stands at a similar crossroads.
If we look honestly at our trajectory—our dependence on fossil fuels, our destruction of ecosystems, our widening inequalities—the predictable future is bleak. It’s a world where extreme weather becomes the norm, where forests continue to vanish, where water and food become scarce, and where the most vulnerable suffer first and most. It’s a world where we deepen our separation—from nature, from each other, and even from our own purpose.
If we do nothing, this is where we are headed.
But just like that walk I took years ago, if we’re willing to truly see this predictable future, we can choose another one.
Choosing the Unpredictable Future
One Cause is about stepping out of the predictable future and creating something entirely new.
It’s about shifting from the 4 Great Untruths that have shaped our world—separation, excess, exploitation, and blind faith in technology—to the 4 Great Truths that can heal it: interconnectedness, sufficiency, reciprocity, and stewardship.
What if, instead of a world defined by competition and depletion, we built one grounded in collaboration and regeneration?
What if our children and grandchildren grew up in a world where clean air and water weren’t luxuries, where forests thrived, where communities flourished—not at the expense of others, but alongside them?
What if we chose a future where we don’t just survive, but thrive?
It won’t happen by accident. And it won’t happen by waiting for someone else to do it for us.
But it can happen—if we make that choice.
Your Walk Forward
I invite you to take a walk of your own.
Find a quiet place and let yourself be with the predictable future of our planet, our society, and our very species. Really see it, feel it, and sit with it. Then, ask yourself:
What would an unpredictable, chosen future look like?
And most importantly…
What’s one step you can take today to start walking toward it?
Why not take just a moment and share that unpredictable future with this community.
Because the future isn’t written. We are writing it now.
Let’s make it a story worth telling.
Brad
(Eco-Author, Grand-Dude, and Co-Creator of One Cause)
P.S. A Call to Play Full Out
I credit much of my understanding of this distinction—the predictable future vs. the future we create—to the work of Landmark Worldwide, whose ontological approach to transformation shaped my life in ways I’m still discovering over three decades after being introduced to Landmark’s work by my first coach, Judy Billman.
One of Landmark’s greatest lessons is that transformation doesn’t happen by accident—it happens by declaration.
So, consider this an invitation. A challenge. A call to play full out.
We don’t have to passively walk into the predictable future of destruction, disconnection, and despair.
We can create the future we want—a regenerative, abundant, harmonious world where all life thrives.
The only question is: Are we willing to do what it takes?
And if so…
What’s the first step you’ll take today? Maybe it will include sharing One Cause with some of your loved ones? That would be cool!
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