Some Day
Article
The Dangerous Word “Someday”
It is only a word. A small, harmless-sounding word. And yet it carries one of the greatest dangers the human mind knows: “Someday.” A word full of hope – and at the same time full of self-deception. It is the soft blanket under which we place our longings when we do not have the courage or the strength to live them.- “Someday I’ll travel to the sea.”
- “Someday I’ll write that book.”
- “Someday I’ll be happy.”
But someday is deceptive. It promises us time, and takes it from us in the very same breath.
Someday, the gentle postponement of life
People tend to postpone life. They delay dreams, decisions, confessions, even love, pushing them to a later moment when everything will be more favourable, calmer, better. But that moment rarely comes. “Someday” is a master of transformation: Today it is an intention, tomorrow an excuse, and the day after tomorrow nothing but a memory. There is no statistic that tracks the fulfilment or fading of these postponed wishes, but one thing is certain: Most “some days” remain unfulfilled. They dissolve quietly, disappearing between work, routine, and the subtle obligations of daily life. Only rarely does a “someday” become a concrete “now.” And that is exactly where the tragedy lies: Life itself does not wait. While we postpone our dreams, time passes – relentlessly, unimpressed, mercilessly.
Someday in the future, or never
In science fiction, someday is a promise. A tomorrow in which humans travel to the stars, save the world, or overcome themselves. But in real life, someday is often the coffin nail of what is possible. Perhaps that is the deepest irony: We create stories about distant futures, about technologies that shape the universe, and yet we so rarely manage to do the simplest things now. “Someday” is the Trojan horse of convenience. It sounds like hope, but it often means stagnation. It gives us the illusion of being able to do something, without actually doing it.
The Now, the only place where the future begins
Perhaps it is time to bury “someday.” Not with bitterness, but with clarity. For every “someday” is an unused moment, a star that never shines. Anyone who waits for perfect circumstances is waiting for something that does not exist. Life does not happen tomorrow. It happens now, in this minute, in this thought, in this decision. Maybe the next time we utter the word “someday,” we should pause and ask: Why not today? Because the future never begins in the future. It always begins now.
A philosophical reflection on time, delay, and the illusion of fulfilment.
(c) 2025 Barry Redhead – www.Redhead.de
German Version: www.Redhead.de