My Aunt Ethel is 96 years old.  My father's eldest sister, she's the last of our family's senior generation.  While her hearing and sight are failing, she NEVER fails to have lots on her calendar.  In fact her preferred thing to make for dinner is a reservation at a favorite restaurant.  If you ask how she's feeling, she may mention an ache or a pain.  But if you ask what she's doing next week, you'll be tied up for quite a while as she recites her calendar of future events.

It must be genetic.  My father always kept a full social calendar.  I am forever making plans (something my husband happily goes along with as long as it doesn't interfere with hockey nights).  My grown sons are on board too.  It seems we all love having something to look forward to.

Don't let this Pollyanna attitude fool you.  Neither I, nor Aunt Ethel, think for a moment that there aren't some dragon days ahead.  (Some days you win, some days the dragon wins.)  Looking forward takes courage - an unexpected bill, bit of bad news or illness may befall any of us at any moment (as I found out last spring.) But aiming at a positive bullseye on the calendar can help override the dragon days.

Beautiful Helen Keller put it succinctly:  "We must go forward with a great desire, forever beating at the door of our hearts as we travel toward our distant goal."

These are not novel ideas.  Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, says, "...by having something to look forward to, no matter what your circumstances, you bring happiness into your life well before the event actually takes place." 

It's known as "rosy prospection."  And I think it's a great nutrient for cultivating courage.  Follow this: if we have something to look forward to, we will be happier. That makes us more at ease, which in turn makes us less frightened of what's ahead.  And as I've said before, courage is not the absence of fear, but the management of fear.  Ergo, having something to look forward to makes us more courageous!

Here are five quick ideas for looking forward courageously:

1. Happiness is scientifically proven to be a health preserver.  How do you think Aunt Ethel got to 96?
2. Be proactive.
Plan fun things, big or small, for next week, next month, next year.
3. Change your viewpoint. 
Even the mundane, like going to the grocery store, can be made fun if you promise yourself a treat: a cookie, an unusual fruit, a new hand cream.
4. Write down anticipated future events. 
It will make them more tangible and remind of good things even on bad days.
5. Finally, never stop! 
Just like face creams and crunches, this exercise works best if it's repeated.