#37 The time you’re living anyway

ByLukas

Question: Do you know how old I’ll be by the time I learn to play the piano?

Answer: The same age you will be if you don’t.

Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way

Some skills take years of practice before I’m any good at them. But I’m living those years anyway. And while society and systemic pressure might push me down a certain path, I still have a say in how I spend every day.

Whether I publish a blog post today or not, I’ll go to bed tonight and the sun will still come up tomorrow.

Whether I write every day in the coming 10 years or not, in 10 years I’ll still turn 40.

The only difference: will I feel that my actions were aligned with who I want to be? Or will I feel regret instead?

Some aspirations are worth the time you’re living anyway.

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    #92 The true purpose of memory

    ByLukas

    Memory isn’t an objective account of the past – and that’s not its purpose either.

    Memory stores the lessons we extract from life experience. And to do so, it modifies, adds, subtracts, highlights, and hides.

    Hot soup burns my tongue – next time, I’ll remember the pain, but not if it was tomato soup or chicken soup. And I’ll remember to wait a couple of minutes before having the first spoon.

    Experience lived. Irrelevant info deleted. Lesson learned. Memory created.

    My country gets invaded – and that causes so much pain, I won’t just deliver an objective account of what happened: I’ll make sure to tell everyone who the evil guys are too.

    Experience lived. Story modified. Lesson learned. Memory created.

    I eat the most delicious dessert at a Mexico City restaurant – that’s the memory I’m going to tell my friends about, not which glass of dessert wine I had with it.

    Experience lived. Dessert highlighted. Lesson learned. Memory created.

    You’re going to make memories anyway. Which lessons do you want to learn?

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    #109 Now is the time to put my heart on the line

    ByLukas

    Now is the time to put my heart on the line.

    Because whatever I do at this very moment is a direct vote for who I want to be.

    But before I let the gravity of the moment paralyze me, I realize – this is not my first vote, and it won’t be my last.

    Another present moment will soon arrive, and with the passing of time, another opportunity to put my heart on the line.

    Too much pressure on one moment leads to perfectionism and paralysis.

    Too much focus on “this one moment doesn’t matter” leads to defeatism and lethargy.

    Be intentional about the present moment because it’s the only vote you can directly influence.

    Then be aware of the aggregate of your actions because your identity emerges from the majority of your votes.

    Who do you choose to be?

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