Weekend.
I'm ready.
There is nothing major planned, but these ends of the year can get busy in Sales organizations, as companies look to close out the year to impact future budgets, and some are clearing out their yearly budgets, so they can get note next year. Spend it, or get it cut.
It doesn't always mean it is well spent.
Spend it or lose it is a terrible incentive mechanism, as it will encourage poor decision-making. It isn't just companies that are affected, we do it too, though most of us don't have extra to spend. But when we do, when we are feeling flush, do we make good buying decisions?
What do you think?
At least for me in most of my past, I don't think I have used my resources well, favoring feeling good in the moment, rather than building some stability for the future. Since we are security-seeking animals, when things are uncertain, unstable, unpredictable, we tend to feel unsettled. We can never be completely sure, but we can improve the odds.
It has been a relatively short period on human evolution since we have been able to plan it into the future. It wasn't that long ago that the needs of the day, or the needs if tomorrow, were the only real pressing concerns. We had to make sure we were warm enough, had enough to eat, and weren't eaten. But we didn't have to think about how we would survive after retirement, because there was no such thing. Every day, we had to bring some value to the table, or not have a seat.
Life was practical.
Even when we looked up at the stars and imagined what was there, we would think about how it applies to our lives directly. It was all about helping us, or protecting us. Put thoughts centered around daily survival.
But now, we do think about the future, and we must. Because we are no longer able to provide for ourselves and our own, alone. It is not a family unit, or a tribe that helps and protects, it is a massive supply chain of strangers, and the only relationship that joins what we need from them, is our ability to trade for it.
During our careers we trade skill for goods and services. But careers aren't for life, which means that we have to be able to trade enough of our skill in our careers, to have reserves to cover our needs when no one needs us. Which is strange, because not too long ago, we were able to keep providing value through the knowledge we acquired through practical life, but now, what we know is unlikely to be relevant enough to bring value, as the processes to fill needs keep changing on ever-shortening cycles. What we know and what we can do, is obsolete faster.
We only have money to trade.
The less community we have, the more true this becomes, as we have to buy care, buy the help and protection we seek. Buy security. We can't leave survival up to chance and expect it all to work in our favor, we have to think ahead, without our security plan being the community we have worked for, because we haven't worked for it, we have worked for ourselves. Without that practical connection to building for the community, the duty of care they have to look after us, is also disconnected.
Safety in numbers.
There are many ways we can look at the meaning of this phrase, but if we are thinking about our personal future, there is also security and stability in numbers, where the community is the group that protects us. However, nothing happens without cost, so in order to number among a protected group, an individual has to provide value to fulfill group needs. This is practical for our survival now, since survival isn't just from day to day and isn't only provided through having enough to eat tomorrow too. Since we have to assume we will survive into a future were we are unable to provide for ourselves, our practical activity now, pads the future.
"Practical" is the application of theory, which is a present moment action. It is the work that actually gets done, and activity always comes at a cost. Spending energy now to provide energy in the future, is a practical strategy for our future selves. To spend energy now with no regard for the future, means that our future selves will have an energy deficit, and if we do not have enough to make it through to the end of our lives, we will experience energy failure when we run dry. And, increasingly, no one will be there to do the work for us.
A lot of people talk about living in the moment, but I think that living that moment has to also consider all the future moments we are likely to live. While some people think that living the moment means enjoying the moment, the reality is that practical action now for the future, is also living the moment. And, what it means is that the future could be filled with more valuable moments to live.
When people talk about "being present" they are talking in theory. But, they if we could see what kin of circumstances they are visualizing to represent the moments they are present in, they aren't likely visualizing themselves frail, starving, and lonely - even if what they are practically doing now is leading to that moment later. Living the moment isn't about joy, it is about being present, and it doesn't mean that what is done in that moment, is only valuable for that moment. We are able to live the moment as we hammer a nail, that becomes a part of a house that will serve and protect our family from the elements for generations.
Every day we have energy to spend, and where we spend it is going to affect our present moment, and our future moments. If we really want to live quality moments and be present, we have to also consider the conditions that support that. We can be completely present in the moment, whilst thinking about and making actions now that build a valuable future, or we can be completely present in the moment and do nothing for our future, yet the future is still built. What we have to think about in the moment, is what kind of future do we want to experience, and if our present moment attention, is working toward that end.
I don't know about you, but I am hoping that in my future, I am not starving and lonely. But if I am not building the relationships and adding value into the pool now to provide different future, that is what I am likely to experience later. Thinking about the future doesn't mean ignoring the present, because our thoughts are always in the moment. However, at some point, we also have to turn thought into practical activity and create something, and activity is always in the moment also.
When in life are we not actually present?
It is impossible. However, what we can do is not pay attention to our present, thinking that what we need in the moment, is pleasure, joy, happiness. To only act for those things, is to ignore a large part of our experience, which is to not be fully present, but rather, half asleep.
Attention is a valuable resource.
Use it, or lose it.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]