Breathing in

I’ve taken a little longer to write another entry recently, I guess because time got the best of me. I’ve been keeping pretty busy with errands and days out and such that finding time to write is a little difficult. But I have had an idea in my mind recently that’s been stewing and I’d like to get it down before it’s gone.

I’ve recently made a decision to do something (which I’ll get into at a later date) and it led me to the common discussion of how one should life their life: should you live for today or live for tomorrow?

I don’t know if I’ve ever had a definative view on this, perhaps leaning to both sides at different points in my life. As a child, it’s easy to live for the moment. You don’t give much though to tomorrow, outside of what you’ll be when you grow up. But as you live your life and learn things and become your own person, I think people are faced with these decisions more and more. “Should I change jobs to secure my future for later, even though I’ll be unhappy now?” or “Should I go on vacation to relax now, and rack up some debt to worry about later?” It’s hard to say what is more just: the here and now, or the hypothetical then.

I think the biggest argument against living for tomorrow is you never know how many tomorrows you will have. I once stumbled upon a message a woman wrote on an internet forum that really spoke to me about this whole conundrum. She said simply, “You always think there will be a tomorrow”. This is exactly the truth. No matter how young or fast someone supposes their life may be, no one ever thinks realistically that tomorrow, or the next day, or the next hour, will be their time to die. But it could be. Everyone will die, and there will always be a yesterday to that persons final moment. There is a phrase in latin, Memento Mori, generally translated as “Remember you are mortal”. This about sums it up… But what do you get from this? Live every day like it may be your last? Or live cautiously because you are fragile?

Life always seems so eternal, or at least so long that it’s not something you need to worry about until you’re old and frail. Or something you know is coming when you’re ill and you have time to mentally prepare yourself. And even then, do those people really believe that they will cease to be in this world? 

Personally, I always think there will be a tomorrow, a next week, a next year. Time enough to fix things. How could you go on if you didn’t? But how much is time enough? And what if tomorrow never comes? What chances did I pass up that will never come up again? What would I miss, and what would I not? What am I waiting for? Thinking about how short life really is, I’ve been leaning towards living for the here and now. All your best laid plans are never guaranteed. You may think you have life figured out, but you can never be in control all of the time. 

I guess the best way to navigate life is to carefully choose from both columns. Do what makes you happy now, but don’t screw yourself over in the future. It’s a fine balance but I think in the end you need to do what makes you happy now. So, what are you waiting for?

And what do you think? Do you believe in living for today, or planning for tomorrow? (Oh, by the way, I’m not suggesting I’m going to sell all my wordly possessions and try and find myself in India or anything, I’m just contemplating life :P )