Was thinking about putting a picture of the Joker from The Dark Knight in here, but thought that might detract from the point.
I think I've developed a skill for realizing cliches approximately 10 years late, but this week I found myself thinking about how adamant I have been over the past few months about being on top of my 'ish day in and day out. Don't get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with striving for success and doing everything I need to on a daily basis in order to reach a desired goal. But something I've come to realize is that with such an emphasis on trying to do "everything" and striving for success distracts me from enjoying the small things, being present, and being thankful in the moment.
Where this all becomes difficult is finding the happy medium. If you're too focused on doing everything in order to be successful in the future, you lose sight of where you are now. This lack of presence will thereby always leave you craving more, never satisfied because you are always striving for the "next big thing." Conversely, if you are always content and focused on the present, how then can you successfully plan for your future? I will coin this the Now or Later Paradox (I'm sure there's a real name for it, but after some research, I was unable to locate anything so please let me know if you do). I'll dive deeper into this thought in next week's post...
It's funny to think that when I walk to and from class, the thing that fills my mind is next class. I tend to get overly focused on doing something, even if it's something that hasn't yet come up yet. It's funny, I had a similar mindset since I was a kid. If I was unsure of something or knew something had to be done, I would become overly focused and anxious until the given task was complete or I had learned about that which what I was unsure of. This pseudo-anxiety pervades my everyday life even now. Juggling school and work, I find myself constantly bogged down in the idiosyncrasies and details of education and deliverables, so much so that even when I'm not doing school or working on work, it seems to permeate within my mind.
Taking into account the Now or Later Paradox and the idea that I am too focused on staying on top of my stuff, there's clearly a way I can avoid feeling like I'm all business, yet still yield the same successful results.
Since my usual sense of "professionalism" doesn't regularly permit my mind to be loose and have a laugh, that will be my primary goal for this upcoming week: to not be so serious.
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