Perhaps The Best Guidance For the New Year - Do Now What You Would Do Later
Michael Kroth • December 29, 2019
Heading To The Gym Or Hitting The Trail - There's No Time Like The Present
This picture was taken on a beautiful hike along the Dry Creek/Shingle Creek Trails
There is a certain romance or idealism involved when one says, "There is no time like the present" to head to Europe, to follow one's dreams, or to ask that certain someone out for the first time. I empathize and support and celebrate these impulsive, serendipitous expressions of our humanity, which are often suppressed by our beliefs about what is expected of us.
My Morning Whatchamacallit
My Biggest Battles
Do Now What You Would Do Later
"Do now what you would do later" makes sense here, even in its seeming capriciousness. Following a dream, as Jo March does in the excellent new film "Little Women", is worthy, even necessary, for us to become fully alive, fully who-we-might-be.
There is more to the equation, I think, than just up and doing something. Do now what you would do later also - also, not solely - means taking on the daily tasks of - in the case of Jo March, Yo Yo Ma, Larry McMurtry, Tom Brady, I could go on and on - practicing one's discipline and of building our own character - that is, the type of person we wish to become. That is, of making the decision to head to the: gym, writing table, cello, swimming pool. Daily. Of speaking honestly, acting with love and humility and gratitude and generosity. Daily. Of saving the money, taking the time to develop a genuine relationship with, developing the skills and knowledge necessary to....
Daily. Now. Regularly. Cumulatively.
As we end 2019, perhaps it is good to reflect not only upon what we want to accomplish in 2020, but also upon our practices - those disciplines that make us more of what we want to make of ourselves, of the type of people we want to be, over time.
This approach can also, of course, be applied to organizations, politics, and government.
Here are three essays, all originally written for The Profound Bartender,
for your reflection as we close out the year: Do Now What You Would Do Later, My Morning Whatchamacallit, and My Biggest Battles.
What, if you did it now, would make your now AND your later ever so much better?
What, if you did it now, would make your now AND your later ever so much better?
Earth Day is this week. As we consider the state of our world - and the ecology of both our material and spiritual environment - it makes sense to ask what our role is, has been, and is supposed to be in relationship to "our common home" (Pope Francis).
Here are some initial thoughts about elegance, nature, and depth; a poem about happiness; and even a haiku.
It takes just a second to break something. Restoring what was broken takes time.
Outcomes are not certain, though some are much more highly predictable than others.
Life is messy. We know that. But some people move through that mess with a surprising kind of grace.
“The poor in spirit are by no means poor-spirited. They are persons who see so much to be, so much to do, such limitless reaches to life and goodness that they are profoundly conscious of their insufficiency and incompleteness.” ~Rufus Jones, The Inner Life , p. 19
