I had planned to get up early this morning to do a couple of hours work, but instead stayed in bed reading a book. I don't read books anywhere nearly as much as I used to or would like. I don't know if it was a really a rationalisation, but I decided to stay put. I think any time management system has to be flexible enough to cope with impulses like this. By the time I was up, I had to make breakfast for a not very well wife which involved a mammoth washing up session and a trip to the shop.
I don't begrudge any of this time. Life is about living and enjoying yourself and my morning so far has been fulfilling enough. As chance would have it there was an article on the radio about a self help book by Eckhart Toll (I don't know if I have spelled that correctly, but googling it would not enhance this post.) I think it was called the Power of Now or some such. It was being reviewed by a skeptic but I turned it off once I had heard the summary. I don't like negativity too early in the day.
The thesis of the book was that the past is gone, the future hasn't happened yet so all we can do is enjoy the present. There has to be a lot to be said for that approach. Certainly it is easy to criticise it, and I don't think it is a thought that is sufficient on its own to base a philosophy around. But fundamentally our lives are just that - a series of presents. I don't know what the book says about this, but it seems to me that looking back to see what has worked, what hasn't and what you can learn from it is very sensible use of time. Dwelling on what could have happened and what might have been seems much less so. So use the past as a resource, not as a frame for the present.
The future is a bit different because what we do today does have some bearing on how the future is going to pan out. The trouble is how do we balance today's happiness with what we are going to have later? I think the key is to try to enjoy today those activities we hope to enjoy later. For example I enjoyed transferring the money left over at the end of last month into my savings account. I also made the last payment on a car loan - so that was very satisfying. I can now enjoy knowing that I can start switching to saving for a new car, and that is a thing that makes me happy now even though it is all to do with future activity.
So I think living life now is a good way to think about things. It doesn't mean not giving a thought for the future. It means enjoying giving thought for the future. And if the future doesn't work out how I expect, well I will enjoy coping with that when it happens. The two hours work I planned for this morning will never happen now but I am happy with what I did instead. I dare say most of my plans will turn out much the same.
photo credit: Giuliagas via photopin cc
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