Banal ObstructionsPosted by simon on October 17th, 2007
Have you ever experienced some moment in life that was truly awesome. So awesome you think back on it regularly but you realize that the moment was hurried due to the daily chores of life. Maybe you had to rush to an appointment or get to work on time. Just anything that didn’t ruin your moment but rushed it because ideally you would sit in that moment for as long as possible. If it had been a Sunday afternoon and your cell phone imploded and there was an angry dwarf scaring interruptions away from your house so you could continue to enjoy the moment without interruption. If your bowels would register the significance of the moment and create a temporal rift to relieve themselves just so you could sit in that moment.
Life seems to be structured in such a manner that we seldom get to enjoy those moments. Normally they are cut short by an average days tasks and commitments. So what happens if we were able to create a life where these tasks and commitments are brushed off for a period of time so as to enjoy a moment fully? What is lost is pushing off some tasks for a period of time, is it procrastination or a conscious decision to appreciate what you have?
Some people have a mindset that pushing off these moments to complete these tasks and commitments is essential. This is true to a degree. It would seem that on a personal level you are sacrificing for some “greater” goal. “greater” as in it effects other people and these effects should be mitigated by you doing whatever is required of you. So what does pushing off personal moments grant you? More time to work/study? A better understanding of something?
What does one really sacrifice by giving in to the “greater” goal? Opportunity. It seems one closes their self off from receiving these golden moments that are so scarce in life. Missing these times would result in regrets and wishing that maybe you could have called in sick to work or brushed off some of extra commitments you made. The bigger problem is when a constant sacrifice is being made and new connections and opportunities are missed. Causing someone to become isolated and continues to sacrifice for the “greater” goal. This causes a trend and slowly changes a person without them really noticing until it is too late. Then a pattern has formed requiring some form of catalyst to inspire and force change into a persons life.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
–Mark Twain
“An unhurried sense of time is in itself a form of wealth.”
–Bonnie Friedman
“Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness; no laziness; no procrastination; never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.”
–Lord Chesterfield