Posts Tagged ‘consequences’

Living in the Now versus Investing for the Future

Monday, May 19th, 2008

“All I know is: our Chinese live in the expectation. Expectation, is that the word close to Future? The farmers grow their rice in the spring, and they water it and expect it grow every day. The rice sprouts turn into green and the rice pole grow up taller. Then summer comes and the farmers look forward to grain growing bigger. Then the autumn harvest and the grain becomes golden. Their expectation is nearly fulfilled, but not complete. After the harvest they separate the straw and millet. The straw goes to the shepherd’s pens or the pig’s yard, and the millet goes to the market for sale. All this is so that a family can have better life in the winter and in the coming Spring Festival. In the winter they burn the roots and grass on the fields to nourish the soil for next year’s re-plant. Everything is for the next step. So look this nature, life is about the expectation, but not about now, not about today, or tonight. So you can’t only live in today, that will be the doom day.” Xiaolu Guo, A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers

I thought the above extract was rather interesting as it crystallised something for me. We are always being encouraged to “Live in the Now!“, which I have always considered something of a challenge. I have had friends who have considered “Being spontaneous” as a higher state of being. The thing is that real life requires us to find a balance between these two extreme states. It is a “Both… And” world not an “Either..or” one.

Of course we should be as fully present in the moment as we can be, but we have to make time to plant seeds for tomorrow too. Finding this balance, and shifting our energy and attention appropriately is the challenge.

So today’s challenge is Be Present Now…. And act in the awareness that the choices you make in this instant are already determining you future, so make sure it is a future you wish to live through!

“Don’t let the past steal your present.” Cherralea Morgen

“We had to learn…that it did not really matter what we expected from life but rather what life expected from us.” Viktor Frankl

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Personal Change, Values & Philosophy | No Comments »

The Power of FREE!

Thursday, May 8th, 2008

Sarah Arrow, a voracious reader, kindly brought this blog to my attention, which is well worth a read, and basically talks about the slightly irrational way we react to things marked as “Free“. Now we know in today’s world, there is no such thing as a free lunch, but this doesn’t stop us being ensnared by this magic formula “Free“. Here is a small extract of the piece:-

“Imagine you are in the market for an Amazon gift certificate. Consider which of these two offers you would go for (try to do it quickly):

  • A $10 gift certificate for FREE!
  • A $20 gift certificate costing $7.

If your first instinct is the same as absolutely everyone in a study carried out by Shampan’er and Ariely (2006) you’ll take the first option, the free option. Economically, though, this doesn’t make any sense. When you look at it you can see that the $20 gift certificate is actually better value: you actually get a $13 gift certificate for free, but this is camouflaged by the question. That word ‘free’ just shakes all rationality out of us.”

The word has a great deal of power in other areas too. Think about the attraction of idea of being unfettered, burdened by no responsibilities, your deeds having no consequences, cheating Fate, being Free! How many times do you here this line in dramas “I just need to be free!” Of course one reason for its seductive power is that we all know that it simply is a fantasy.

We are (relatively) free to choose our actions, but the consequences are generated by the Universe. At times it might feel like a giant game of Snakes & Ladders, where we patiently wait our turn, throw the dice, march forward a few steps then wait again. Of course, occasionally we find a ‘ladder’ and jump up a level, and then somehow contrive to sabotage ourselves and slide down our own personal ‘snake’.

I guess one of the markers of being an adult is taking responsibility for our actions, and accepting the consequences for our choices. If there seem to be a few too many ‘snakes’ in your life at present then maybe this is a good time to make some different choices and see if they work for you. I wish you luck and hope you roll a 6!

“A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” Albert Einstein

“The truth shall make you free, but first it shall make you angry”

Resources:

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Personal Change, Values & Philosophy | No Comments »