Notice I am not sitting on the bench. I walk by it most days, but I have places to go.
Of course, the lake is round, generally. And if I keep walking I go round and round. So it’s time, as my leaves start to turn, to get serious about a clear direction; clarifying goals I want to get to — while I still feel 30, as long as I’m not in front of a mirror.
Part of the art of aging is to remain (or become) a selective fantasist. If we imagine ourselves as a package of our best skills, experience, ideals, aspirations and wisdom, we give ourselves the buoyancy to move with the breeze. We can still be honest about our failures and limitations and losses, we just need to make them a neutral part of history. A touch of zen also helps — it just is, neither good nor bad.
So here is my formula for allocating my energy every day:
- take time to make an agenda (the action) with outcomes that advance the goals
- have a good time
My new mantra might be a bit trite. But at least I won’t be going in circles.
