The Best Day Is Today

August 27, 2021

A couple things got me thinking recently. First, here we are already closing in on the end of summer; that got me thinking about how time flies and its effect on waiting. Then, as we’ve planned our expansion and questioned why we are, or should we be, doing so in the current climate; that too got me thinking and what waiting would have meant. The results of my pondering led me to the following poem:

(with thanks to Andrew Pratt)

Barely the day started and… it’s already six in the evening.
Barely arrived on Monday and it’s already Friday…
… and the month is already over.
… and the year is almost over.
… and already 40, 50 or 60 years of our lives have passed.
… and we realize that we lost our parents, friends.
… and we realize it’s too late to go back.
So… Let’s try, despite everything, to enjoy the remaining time.
Let’s keep looking for activities that we like.
Let’s put some color in our grey.
Let’s smile at the little things in life that put balm in our hearts.
And despite everything, we must continue to enjoy with serenity this time we have left.
Let’s try to eliminate the afters…
… I’m doing it after…
… I’ll say after…
… I’ll think about it after.
We leave everything for later like “after” is ours.
Because what we don’t understand is that…
… afterwards, the coffee gets cold…
… afterwards, priorities change…
… afterwards, the charm is broken…
… afterwards, health passes…
… afterwards, the kids grow up…
… afterwards parents get old…
… afterwards, promises are forgotten…
… afterwards, the day becomes the night…
… afterwards life ends…
And then it’s often too late.
So, let’s leave nothing for later,
Because still waiting to see you later, we can lose the best moments,
the best experiences,
best friends,
the best family.
The day is today… The moment is now…

Mike

I Think Therefore I Am

July 17, 2020

I think thinking is good.  I think about thinking a lot; especially these days because there is so much more to think about.  I think we even think about things we never thought about before and think about what we’re going to need to think about in the future.  You think more about where to go, how to go, the known and unknown.  You think more about family and friends.  You may think more about strangers and what they’re thinking.  You may even think about how much thinking people are not doing these days.  You think about how they act rather than think because thinking takes too much effort.  I must say, however, I think there is some non-thinking that is actually good.

When you think about it, our brains are a marvelous thinking machine and I find myself thinking about how much thinking my thinking machine can take.  Which is why, I think, it’s good to take some time not to think, but not in the way most people aren’t thinking these days.  For example, if I go to the beach I see lots of people reading books or scrolling on phones and tablets.  Not me.  I took a book once and read only three chapters in a week.  I took a comic book for the entertainment value and minimal time it took.  Mostly though, I just sit and stare off.  Perhaps play some music, but it’s just background.  I sit and think of nothing.  I take in the wind and sounds and visual rhythms that pass before me, but I don’t think about them; they just are.  As I think about it now, I realize when I don’t think, sometimes I think the best. When you tune out the all the thoughts that constantly plague your mind, when you take a few moments to clear your head, it’s like a reboot to your entire system and when you tune back in, there are amazing ideas, a greater appreciation of things and a renewed focus on what needs to be done.

Of course, you don’t need to be on a beach.  You can do it anywhere.  Sometimes I take a few moments to get up from my desk and look out the window.  You just need to make time, for a few brief moments, at home, in your car, walking a trail, anywhere, to let it all go, breath deep, and don’t think.

Thinking is good, thinking is necessary most of the time, but not thinking for even just a little bit here and there, is a really good thing too.   I think.

 

Mike