I am learning that all influence of a future self, is how perception of an event or artefact is responded to. If you witness a violent car crash, it is probably horrific, but a perspective that the safety features deployed and saved people's lives, or lessened their injuries - its better than just going into a shell and saying all cars are dangerous death traps.
They might be, and maybe my example is bad, but how we choose to respond to things really shapes our wordview.