Are We There Yet? vol. 245
A couple of years ago, one of my neighbors brought a musician and songwriter, Ike Reilly, to their home to perform for a crowd of about 40 people. I hadn’t heard Ike’s music before but was excited to see him perform. I enjoyed his music and one line in his song, Devil’s Valentine, caught my attention. He sang that “somewhere between dreams and fears is life.”
After the concert, I talked to Ike about his life and was surprised to learn how varied his experiences were. In addition to being a musician, he worked as a grave digger and hotel doorman but also had signed a major record deal in the early part of this century. He bought a big house for his family; the record was not successful, so he lost the house and struggled with alcohol all along the way.
From my conversation with Ike, he seemed to live in the present even though some future planning may have served him well. But he was not full of regrets and seemed to have a zest for life and thoroughly enjoyed traveling from Chicago to DC for a house concert to perform for us.
In Oliver Burkeman’s book, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, he told a story about a woman who continuously thought that if she could just get a few important goals completed, she would be able to enjoy a happier life. Burkeman noted that the woman was “treating the present solely as a path to some superior future state.” That concept resonates with me, and I suspect with many. Finding the balance between living in the moment and thinking and planning for the future is not easy. I think it’s possible to plan for the future while maintaining a mindset that keeps you in the moment, but it’s difficult, at times, to keep that balance. If you can do it, it may improve your wellbeing.
Take care and stay safe.
VIDEO:
Slow Horses (Season 4)
Slough House is an administrative purgatory for MI5 service rejects who have seriously failed a task but have not been sacked. Those consigned there are known as "slow horses", a play on "Slough House". They are expected to endure dull, paper-pushing tasks, along with occasional mental abuse from their miserable boss, Jackson Lamb, who expects them to quit out of boredom or frustration. Life in Slough House is defined by drudgery. Yet the slow horses somehow get involved in investigating schemes that endanger Britain.
Learn more about Bob Len here.
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