Ep. 15: How Much Time Are You Wasting?
The past week was riddled with ups and downs. A few ups along the way, punctuated by a couple extreme downs. Reaching Friday felt like an achievement on its own, despite the personal and professional work still on the horizon next week. In lieu of the episode I had planned for this week, I wanted to come to you with a simple message. This isn’t me scolding any listener or reader; it’s me scolding myself. I remind myself often about how valuable gratitude is, maintaining presence, and slowing down to focus on today. Yet I rationalize focusing on the distant future as if making it ‘there’ will finally free me to be the husband … father … man … I want to be. But instead of trying to get to some undetermined future point where I become the person I want to be, why am I not becoming that person right now? Why am I wasting time?
Every day we wake up and set our feet upon the floor is a gift. Every day we have with our families and friends is a gift. Every day we live with a chance to get better at our craft and help someone else do the same is a gift. Yet so many of us fail to recognize the power of those gifts, and their daily renewal, and choose only to focus on gifts we may or may not receive far into the future. Are you sprinting through your years toward a horizon after which you can “finally slow down?” Or are you experiencing life now as it is, making the most of the minutes you have with each other now, and being the person you hope to be one day … today?
Arun L. Chittur 