hard to plan the day
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“If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”
–
e.b. white
So.
My plan for the day.
Each day I wake up and aim to be the best I can be at work.
I do this with the intent of … well … actually … for … for those who work with me and the people who work for me and anyone I can impact.
But does that I mean sacrificing being able to enjoy the world?
Does enjoying the world mean vacation?
Or relaxing?
Geez.
This whole life thing is tough and I haven’t even starting thinking about what good ole EB calls “life challenges.”
That is just how I think about it.
For everyone <this includes me>?
Balancing self versus others is tough.
Toiling toward success versus relaxing is tough.
Heck.
Life in general is tough.
And it’s even tougher if you can’t decide how to attack life.
The hardest part?
You can’t.
Every morning you are trying to decide how to attack the day.
Despite all the self help books and “the 12 ½ traits of tried & true toilers” <I just made that up but I got to use lots of “t’s” which made me happy> and no matter how you plan and make lists and all that crap … you cannot.
Every day is a plan made … when you wake up.
<so it seems a little crazy to me investing boatloads of energy trying to plan your life let alone the day>
Of course everyone wants to improve the world.
I don’t know I have ever met anyone who hasn’t wanted to <even in the smallest way>.
In fact <I am digressing here> I would argue that even if it isn’t in your ‘plan for the day’ should the opportunity to do something that would improve your world stepped into the day you would drop a shitload of other things down on the list to make room for it <hence your plan for the day has gone to hell in a hand basket … hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm … but … for a good reason ..>.
Anyway.
Despite the ‘wanting to improve the world’ decision you made the night before <and the awesome dreams you had during the night> as soon as the alarm goes off and the caffeine starts kicking in you are quickly shifting focus to ‘how do I keep my head above water today.”
Oh.
And where the hell does “enjoy the world” come into play?
Do I, personally, have good balance?
Shit no.
The best I can say for myself is that the one thing I have down pat is the work thing. Relentlessly focused on making anyone I manage be the most successful they can be (in life and in business). I kinda figure maybe my ‘enjoy the world’ comes from the fruits of that endeavor.
In my own odd way I have figured out how to improve the world and enjoy the world.
I will say this to anyone reading this though.
Figure out your own.
But figure it out so you aren’t always choosing on over the other. Maybe it takes some weird logic like I developed to get to a balancing act. Maybe you can figure out your own less obtuse way of doing it. It really doesn’t matter (and when people say you have a fucked up way of looking at it … well .. they are wrong … because it is YOUR way of looking at it … and they are wrong to impose their guidelines on you).
Anyway.
The point?
Yeah.
Life makes it really really hard to plan your day if your two aspects are improving the world and enjoying the world.
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try and figure it out.
In fact.
You will be a lot happier if you invest some energy at some point <hopefully with some cocktails and maybe a really good friend> and figure it out.
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