Long taxi rides have become somewhat routine for me since I took my current job. Mostly because I end up having to travel to my client's offices when doing meetings or presentations but also because a good chunk of my friends actually live on the other side of Seoul from me. These taxi rides can last anywhere from 25-50 minutes and that is quite a bit of time to think (or sleep, depending on my state).
So during today's ride I got to thinking: How does one live for the moment while still maintaining forward motions for the future? We all know that proverb "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift" but one can't really go about life reveling completely in the moment or tomorrow goes from being a mystery to being a VH1 Special. Though in contrast, if one completely focuses on goals for the future, life becomes pretty bland and scripted. I guess in certain respects, my life for the past 2 years or so has been trying to find some sort of balance between these two ideas. While I haven't been able to find that optimal balance point yet (or even an optimal balance range), the constant search for it is I guess what keeps my life interesting sometimes.
What about you? Have you found your balance point? Any pointers?
So during today's ride I got to thinking: How does one live for the moment while still maintaining forward motions for the future? We all know that proverb "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift" but one can't really go about life reveling completely in the moment or tomorrow goes from being a mystery to being a VH1 Special. Though in contrast, if one completely focuses on goals for the future, life becomes pretty bland and scripted. I guess in certain respects, my life for the past 2 years or so has been trying to find some sort of balance between these two ideas. While I haven't been able to find that optimal balance point yet (or even an optimal balance range), the constant search for it is I guess what keeps my life interesting sometimes.
What about you? Have you found your balance point? Any pointers?
2 comments:
well 1st off, kudos on riding the taxi for 30-50min plus...maybe the cabs out in Korea are mad different than the one's in the states,at least in Chicago...my cab experiences consists of the usual sceanic routes oppose to a beeline to my destinations, ya know, cabbies play dumb as fuck and deplete as much time and money as possible to squeeze outta ya...it's frustrating but i think it's a love/hate relationship considering those drunken times being rescued late in the nite just to be cradled back to your comfort zone..i'll give them that...i have yet to spend 30min or more in a cab...and they are last resort options since fuel has noticeably rised higher than Keith Richard's state of mind! fare is mad ridiculous...enough about that...as far as finding a balance(hmmm, does a certain "Sluggish" reference come in?) i have yet to find it....although i found setting goals to be quite inspirational...the idea of looking foward to something and finally reaching that and the reward of self accomplishment set in...lately i have been successful in that aspect...i still have a journey to go...but i can definitely appreciate spontaneous events that occur in my life...balancing the two could be challenging but i'm sure there's a secret recipe in store,i apologize for the novelistic "comment", ha...i guess i have longly extended that term. maybe i gotta ask ol Mr.Miyagi for the balance..Ralph Macchio will have to get back to ya on that note.
This is what I do: Think about my goal for the future (Ph.D. in English lit?), go through the motions (set up the IRAs, the stocks and bonds and CDs), then once you have it locked down, just forget about it and enjoy your daily life. What are you going to eat for dinner, what color is the sunset, what book are you reading, soju or nihonshu? It could all be gone tomorrow, so just live.
Post a Comment