Let me introduce you to a song you may have heard of before, Que Sera, Sera. I used to hum the song without knowing its meaning.
A kombi, Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, have all written and composed this Waltz. It was sung by Doris Day in Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) and won the Best Original Song at the Academy Awards of the same year. Doris Day’s record was a big hit in summer 1956 with a million sold. Even to this day, the song has been sung by many other singers and still loved to this day.
The lyrics deliver a very simple message. Little girls often ask their mom, “what will I become when I grow up?” The girl asks about the vague future but the mom also has no way to see what will happen in the future. However, a clever answer comes from the mom: “Whatever will be, will be. The future is not ours to see.”
We are always curious about the future. We have so many things that we wish to do and to be. Not just children wonder but grown-ups as well, who have lived a long life; the future is always nagging them but is an unsolvable riddle. The moment you are bound to the future, you won’t be able to focus on what you have to do in the present. We commonly believe that the future exists. However, the future cannot be there unless the present exists. The behavior that I currently have and the work that I am currently doing actually become who I am tomorrow. The moments of the present gather together to make up the future.
Some mistakenly interpret this song and believe its message as ‘do whatever.’ However, to not be attached to the future does not mean to abandon yourself and give up what you do. It would not be the right way. To people who faithfully carry out their current duties and diligently do their work, the future will be there, and success for the future will also be guaranteed. I would like to say about the importance of ‘carrying it into action’ to everyone who is currently wasting time by daydreaming about the future.
One, who is only curious about what will be up there at the foot of a ladder, can never ever reach heaven above clouds. Only the one, who actually climbs up the ladder, step by step, will eventually be able to see, with his eyes, how the world above the clouds looks.
This is what it means by ‘whatever will be, will be’. If I diligently do what I am currently doing, the outcome is absolutely guaranteed for the future. It is such a simple and precise truth. If you are curious about if you can become rich or pretty in the future, here is the answer. Right at this moment, look back at yourself. If you look at yourself in a mirror, the answer is right there.
Que Sera Sera – Doris Day
When I was just a little girl,
I asked my mother,
What will I be?
Will I be pretty?
Will I be rich?
Here’s what she said to me.
Que sera, sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future’s not ours to see.
Que sera, sera,
What will be, will be
When I grew up and fell in love.
I asked my sweetheart.
What lies ahead?
Will we have rainbows?
Day after day?
Here’s what my sweetheart said.
Que sera, sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future’s not ours to see.
Que sera, sera,
What will be, will be
Now I have Children of my own.
They ask their mother.
What will I be?
Will I be handsome?
Will I be rich?
I tell them tenderly.
Que sera, sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future’s not ours to see.
Que sera, sera,
What will be, will be
