Less plan, more living

It's late morning. Finished my third cup of tea and I'm sitting on a thought that this year is drawing to a close. It's that time of the year when we all look back and look forward. The time when conversations are around the goals for the next year.

I have been setting goals almost every year. Some shared out loud and some tried in secret. Some brought me happiness and some disappointment.

The end of the year always puts me in a heightened state of introspection. This time I'm not only thinking about what my goals will be for the next year, but I'm also realizing a period of life that has passed and I will never get back.

Yes, introspection takes you places.

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If I peek into the past surely there have been moments where I felt the world is awful and moments I failed to relish as I was too stuck in one of the perceptions.

Looking back, I’m also smiling at the loveliness of simple things. Like a walk on the beach, a clear sunny sky, watching a beautiful sunset, sipping that hot cup of tea, and that cozy feeling when I curl up in my blanket after a long day, celebrations with my family, a compliment from a stranger, smile on the child's face. Ok. Ok. I will stop with the list. But you get it, right? The simple things. The small moments.

Sometimes we are only offered the opportunity for perspective when the time has already passed.

Only in hindsight and retrospect we discover ourselves, and we realize that the little things aren’t little. These little things are what make us believe that life is too short to waste in anger, regrets, worries, and grudges. I also know I may not be able to hold onto this perspective when some unknown fear grapples me. (Hey! check! check! I'm human. Haha!)

“Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” - John Lennon

In the rush to set and achieve goals, we postpone living our life which is in these small moments. This year one of my personal resolutions will be to collect these small moments.

Less plan, more living.

And so, before you sit to write your goals for the next year, slow down a bit and make a list of those tiny moments which bring you joy, make you feel alive, and experience its fullness.

The present will start feeling like the present when you show enough presence to it.

💡: Maybe I can put a glass jar. Fill it with colorful notes. Each note describes one happy moment.

(I am wondering what it would feel like to read these notes from the jar after a month of collection.)

I wish you many many moments of joy and happiness.

XO,

Harshank