If this pandemic is to teach us anything, is that we should live consciously knowing how lucky we are. We’ve the freedom of choice; abundance of entertainment, access to knowledge, and going forward – career perspectives, living anywhere we wish*. Yet, we tend to live our lives on autopilot and spend our time on silly, trivial things, postponing those that really matter. Things that shape us and give our lives a meaning. Most people live without taking time to understand what makes them happy, what gives their life a definite purpose, a direction which will drive them to build reacher lives, their and the people around them. They’re putting their life on hold waiting for ‘a better moment’ while being preoccupied and chasing the wrong things. Many of us (myself included) fall into trap of chasing for happiness through building a career and forgetting about enjoying the “now”. We’re focusing on too many dots up front. Yet, you can only connect one at the time.
However, we all have a backlog of things. How many people do you know (yourself included?) that keep truly important things in their backlog? Checking out with your parents, starting your own business, ending a toxic relationship, or simply traveling are a few things among many that really shouldn’t get stuck in your backlog if they are truly important to you.
People talk about being present in the moment, but there’s also the broader concept of macro-presence: feeling broadly present in your own life. If you’re on a career dot that, when you’re being really honest with yourself, feels right, you get to stop thinking and stop planning for a while and just dig in. You’ll come back to the big picture later—for now, you can put the macro picture aside, put your head down, and dedicate all of your energy to the present. For a while, you can just live. These moments don’t always last that long, so sink your teeth in. Put everything you’ve got into the dot you’ve chosen. As far as you know, you might be Michael Jordan holding his first basketball, so start playing.
If there’s anything we should take away from seeing our world ‘frozen’ is that life is fleeting and nothing is promised. Live your live purposely and don’t keep things that count in your backlog for long.
*restrictions will end eventually.
