Figmentations

In high school, I vaguely remember reading a book called “Waiting for Godot”.  Mostly what I recall about the book is a number of odd characters that were waiting for someone who never came.

A common regret in life is wasting time.  We only live once.  Time spent can never be retrieved.  Yet, as we mature, I wonder how many of us live a life that doesn’t have at least one lost decade somewhere in our past.

Thus, common advice is to encourage people to take action.  Yet, action can be meaningful or not.  Action can be enlightening or not. 

Another bit of conventional wisdom is to set goals because: “If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you get there?” 

But what do you do when you don’t know which way to go with your life? Even if you are aware of all the options that are really out there for you, how do you choose just one?  Picking any option randomly doesn’t feel all that good since you can’t really pursue Random without passion, right?

When you don’t know where you want to go, it is easy get immobilized and choose to do nothing. And, that might not always be the wrong choice to make. 

However, metaphorically speaking (in this case, whether you are a writer or not), consider the following quote by Henry David Thoreau: “How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.”  I would add, that may be true unless, of course, you write about being vain or about the regrets of not living.

Treading water may not be that different from moving around for the sake of moving.   It can be dangerous to stay put, or it can be dangerous to move.  Life doesn’t come with guarantees no matter how safe you play it.

If you’re going to stay put for a while, which can be good if you are using that time wisely,  like to regroup, repair, or recharge, or to learn and grow as a person.  Just be sure that you aren’t busying yourself solely with mindless distractions which will only add to your growing collection of lost years to regret later in life.

Either way, whatever you choose to bide your time with, whether active or not, you can never go too wrong if you can at least appreciate what you have around you.  Things could always be worse.  There are always people that have less or are less fortunate than you.

So, when you are unsure of what to do or where to go, how do you spend your time? Do you tend to move or  stay put?

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For a list of all posts in this series go to:  Finding Purpose  (actual links will be posted as each post becomes live.)