Wisdom for my cult, no. 53
Many of us intend to do things. The things we intend to do would generally be the best, most noble, useful, or healthful things we accomplished, if we did them. (Conversely, most of the hurtful or unhealthy things we do we don't think about beforehand--they just sort of happen.)
However, many of us find that the day gets in the way of what we intend. Crises arise, complications develop, appointments run late, the dog vomits on the carpet. In short, we're stopped well short of our intentions for the day.
What's more, what we generally intend to do is important--this is why we intend to do it. Dog vomit, largely, is unimportant. This is worth noting because we are allowing the day to displace the important with what's unimportant. What do we have to show for our day? A freshly-cleaned carpet, yes, but is that enough?
No.
Despite the hectic pace and frantic happenings of many days, all of us control at least some small part of our day. For most of us, this is in the morning, before the day has found its full-throated roar. We control this time. Until you take off your pajamas, for the most part, no one outside of your home wants to deal with you. Take time at the beginning of the day to read the book you've wanted to, or to play with the dog, or to write a letter to your senators. If you arrive in the office 15 minutes early, for example, you may be rewarded with ten minutes without telephone calls interrupting. There may be times during the day when you have little actual influence on your schedule, but there are times when your chronological authority is damn near despotic. Carve out time when you control what you are doing. Start earlier and leave the world trying to catch up with you.
However, many of us find that the day gets in the way of what we intend. Crises arise, complications develop, appointments run late, the dog vomits on the carpet. In short, we're stopped well short of our intentions for the day.
What's more, what we generally intend to do is important--this is why we intend to do it. Dog vomit, largely, is unimportant. This is worth noting because we are allowing the day to displace the important with what's unimportant. What do we have to show for our day? A freshly-cleaned carpet, yes, but is that enough?
No.
Despite the hectic pace and frantic happenings of many days, all of us control at least some small part of our day. For most of us, this is in the morning, before the day has found its full-throated roar. We control this time. Until you take off your pajamas, for the most part, no one outside of your home wants to deal with you. Take time at the beginning of the day to read the book you've wanted to, or to play with the dog, or to write a letter to your senators. If you arrive in the office 15 minutes early, for example, you may be rewarded with ten minutes without telephone calls interrupting. There may be times during the day when you have little actual influence on your schedule, but there are times when your chronological authority is damn near despotic. Carve out time when you control what you are doing. Start earlier and leave the world trying to catch up with you.
1 Comments:
Holy crap! I just wrote about this in my blog...the problem, not the solution.
I'm taking this advice starting tomorrow!
And you can do a lot in 15 minutes. I may even take over the world!
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