On Anticipation — J.R.R. Tolkien
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
J.R.R. Tolkien — The Fellowship of the Ring, 1954
Photo by NHP&Co on Pexels
Tolkien wrote this for a hobbit standing at the edge of something enormous and terrifying. Frodo hadn't chosen his moment. The ring had found him, the shadow was moving, and the road ahead was longer than he could see.
Gandalf didn't offer comfort. He offered clarity. You didn't choose the time you were born into. You didn't choose the losses, the disruptions, the years that arrived harder than expected. None of us do. But every morning the same quiet question returns — not why this but what now.
That's not resignation.
That's where courage actually begins.
Molins J.
What is the time you've been given asking of you right now?
If this resonated, you might also enjoy: On Adaptation — Viktor Frankl and On Paying Attention — Warren Zevon