We Command The Minutes
How many tomorrows?
We don’t know which brings the win, which is the last
Only certainty: nothing will be won if nothing is done
Randomness and dumb luck of the world is beyond us
Nobody knows what each year brings
We command the minutes
How Many Tomorrows?
If you’re lucky, you have a tomorrow to wake up to:
You wake up and get ready, take the kids to school, go to class, go to work, start work, eat, go on dates, nurture your partner, and pay your bills.
Take a step back. Most people on Earth have to step up their “tomorrow game” just to stay alive, breathe and eat. Their lives are marked by 18 year periods of rough patches, without even 18 hours of the joy we receive.
Life is a daily parade of party invitations. You don’t know which parties will be lively and epic, which ones will either send you to the emergency room, or stretch tolerable minutes into tortuous hours.
Keep accepting each invitation.
Occasionally you may win some prizes at the door. It maybe a disaster.
It’s okay: Keep going. We don’t know which day brings the win and which is our last. The only certainty is nothing will be won if nothing is done.
You accept both the invitation to, and the mystery of, each tomorrow.
The randomness and dumb luck of the world is beyond us.
Nobody knows what each year brings us.
We command the minutes.
We can craft routines about how we spend our time. We don’t control outcomes and output, but we have a lot of say about the input and investment of our time. Every party is made up of at least two friends.
There are friends I haven’t seen in ages but we pick up the conversation as if there was no gap in time and space. There are friends I just made and yet to meet but it’s as if we always can finish each other’s jokes. There are friends I have lost and it seemed all I did was turn my head aside, distracted for a moment, and when I look back then they are gone.
How will I use my minutes? Writing more and worrying less, reaching out to anyone and everyone about anything and everything of interest, reinventing my stack of systems — a personalized sandwich of talents, experiences and interests. This includes continuous genuine connection and friendship.
Command your minutes. Accept invitations to as many tomorrows as you can.
Originally published at https://edwardrooster.substack.com on January 16, 2023.
