Restraint, Persistence and Perspective

Three micro-essays.

Photo by Fabrice Villard on Unsplash

Resist The Urge To Always Be The Centre Of Attention

There is an urge we get when we are not an active participant in a conversation to inject ourselves into the heart of it. This can be a grave mistake as we will miss multiple opportunities to learn. You don’t always have to be the focal point. It can be exhausting and draining to always anchor conversations and be the one people look to for answers. It is hard to learn when you are always talking all the time. You would be better served anchoring only some conversations and simply being a listener in others. No one knows it all and you can’t know what you don’t know if you’re always talking and never listening.

Keep Going. Even When The Destination Is Uncertain

When you embark on some journeys, you may not know exactly where you are going. Chances are that your first job out of school might not be the job you end up having a career in. However, that job will have played a key role in helping you figure out where you are going. Therefore, do not fret when you are unsure of where you are going with a hobby, job, or even a relationship. Keep going. Some destinations take time to unveil themselves. You can only get somewhere if you are moving. If you keep moving for long enough, you will eventually figure out where you are headed.

Don’t Be Distracted By The Immediacy Of The Moment

Things are rarely ever do or die. When we are in the moment, faced with the pressure and immediacy of the moment, we forget that things can easily change in the near future. We live in a world filled with impossibilities. We live in a world filled with things that many wise men of yesteryear would have told you would never happen. Therefore, we should not be blinded to the possibilities of the future by the urgency of the present. Don’t capitulate to the pressure of the moment. Think things through as much as you can to make decisions that are based on solid logic.

There are times when you will have to make decisions on a whim, those are unavoidable. But for many decisions, the urgency attached to them is an illusion and you have more time than you think. Take as much time as you can to make them and factor in how they will affect the future. Even for those decisions that have to be made instantly, do not forget to consider their impact on the future. To live in the future is to forever evade the fruits of joy in the present. But to always live in the present and never water the seeds of the future is to prepare for a barren harvest.

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