Negation of an external object is what generates a living future.

Evidence

Man who no longer relates himself … to an object given externally, thus has no further reason to negate it for the sake of remaining in existence and conserving his self-identity. And Man who no longer negates has no real future. — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 217

Categorization

• XREF: Directly relevant to the reader’s core question: what tips the subject from passive reception to active negation — abolition of the external object removes the very condition of futurity/agency.