The Future; the Great Perhaps; the Unknown

I'm just going to acknowledge the fact that what I am about to say is completely unoriginal, considering it was sparked from a novel I have just read, and thousands of other people have probably thought these same words. I hate using novels as my basis for new ideas and thoughts, but then again, where are we supposed to receive new ideas and thoughts if not from novels? (Also, I've changed the name of my blog solely based on the reason that my Future is synonymous with the Unknown. I think it fits well with my current situation and relates to this post.) This Great Perhaps, as mentioned in the novel Looking for Alaska, which I have just finished (if you haven't read the book, or any books by John Green, I highly recommend you do), is quite an intriguing idea. I believe we are all in search of this Great Perhaps. Granted, some of us wait around for the Great Perhaps to hit us square in the face; we're still expecting it. We still expect something Greater to come out of tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, and ultimately, our lives. John Green's interest in last words of the dead have allowed him to come across the last words of François Rabelais, which were, "I go to seek a Great Perhaps." I take this quote as Mr. Rabelais assuming that by dying, he will reach a Great Perhaps. He has faith that this new venture might possibly bring upon him something beneficial, which I suppose is controversial. Anyone with a belief in the afterlife, and I'm just generalizing here, believes that there are two possibilities. Heaven and Hell. Paradise, and eternal suffering. I doubt anyone feels that they deserve to suffer eternally. This results in people who have faith in an afterlife, believing that this afterlife holds new opportunity for them, which could be another way to say a Great Perhaps. New opportunity. New opportunity is usually viewed as optimistic, since no one is going to knowingly walk in to a situation that will result in anything less than Great outcome. Those who don't believe in some sort of afterlife, generally have faith that at some point in their future, they will reach that Great Perhaps. Taking advantage of every opportunity given to you may or may not bring you closer to that Great Perhaps, which is why I think people are willing to try new things. Why not? Granted, there are people who don't feel this way about their futures, and feel that their Great Perhaps, or in their case, their Unknown, will bring despair (Bless their souls, those are terrible thoughts). By my own definition, any event that has yet to occur, can be filed under the name the Unknown. However Great, or not so Great, this Unknown is, it still exists. All of this incessant rambling brings us to the ultimate question, what is the point of this Future/Great Perhaps, if it is entirely unknown? In other words, why venture in to the Unknown when the Future may not be a Great Perhaps but possibly the Worst Perhaps you have ever experienced? That's what it really comes down to. We start of with an Unknown. If we go further, it's in search of the Future, which in turn, is for hope of a Great Perhaps. But why go further in to that Unknown? Everyone has ventured at some point, but what if this time, it doesn't end in the Great Perhaps that we feel is our purpose? What if we never find that Great Perhaps and we continuously are forced in to venturing into more Unknowns with questionable Futures? The Unknown is named such for a reason, so why take a chance on something that may never happen? This, I think, is where our good friend François Rabelais was wrong. He waited until his last words to search for that Great Perhaps. I suppose that could be blamed on his beliefs that the Great Perhaps was past his last words, but what about the people without those beliefs? Or even if people have such faith, why live for that Unknown, past the last words? While there is a chance that our faiths have truth to them, it's still an Unknown that no one else will ever know until their last words. That's why Rabelais should have ventured in to the Unknown while he could and not wait until his last words. Physically, what happens after our last words, is equivalent to dirt. Literally. There is no disproving that. I guess the point I'm trying to get across is that it is unfair to our friends and family, and ourselves, to wait until the last words to find that Great Perhaps. At least these physical Unknowns we face on a daily basis, can be handled. There's always a solution, while we can't solve our  faith. It's utterly impossible. I think we should solve what we can, while we can, in this physical being of ours. The Great Perhaps we strive for can't be found on a death bed, with famous words being spoken in the last minutes of our physical being. That would force you to lead a commonplace life. No Great Perhaps. We live to prove, and find our Great Perhaps; we don't die for it. While past this life there may be another Great Perhaps, that is entirely Unknown, and will remain Unknown forever, even though it is apart of everyone's destined Future. We should live for the Unknown to find our own Future, and finally, after much searching, discover our Great Perhaps, instead of relying on a bed of dirt to satisfy that need for the Great Perhaps.