It’s a question I ask myself every day when I think about the decisions I make. Even with simple ones, such as, should I eat dessert today? Is life too short to not enjoy the small things and indulge myself every once and a while? Or is life too long, should I exercise self-control because I will have millions of other opportunities throughout my lifetime to eat sweets. The sweets topic is a little bit unfair because at the moment I’m training for a marathon — I could probably eat the entire Harry and David catalog and still remain in similar shape.
Something that holds a little more water at the moment is: should I push past the minor injuries and soreness that I have to go work out? Is life too short so that when I’m older I’ll still be able to move just fine? Will I wish I had done more when I was as limber as ever in my 20's? Or is life too long? Should I take it slow, stretch before and after working out, and take days off? Maybe resting a sore knee or my messed up ankle from high school will prolong my years of physical activity. I know my active years have an expiration date, but should I be trying to put it off as much as possible, or just run straight for it?
Both of these things are still pretty non-consequential in the grand scheme of my life (with the latter being personally more important). Maybe I’ll get fat later in life and maybe I’ll not be able to run once I’m 60, but those are definitely future Zack problems. Right now, what I think about every day, is my work life. Is life too short to sit behind a desk and work for someone else doing something that I’m not 100% sure I want to be doing? Or is life too long to be that naïve? Will this work experience actually be an invaluable stepping stone for my future?
Seriously, every day. I thought about it when I woke up this morning, at least 19 times yesterday, and I’m thinking about it right now. Maybe that is pointing me toward the life is too short hypothetical. Maybe I’m just afraid of starting work at a new job. I tried numerous ways of going off on my own after college but hardly any of them worked. Or more realistically I should say, I didn’t work hardly enough on any of them. So the job I’m beginning now is going to be that first stone, whether I believe it at the moment or not.
This is a place to develop all of the things I lacked these past few months. Meet some people, learn some things, and work really really hard. I could suck at this new position but life is too long for me to be preoccupied with my future aspirations and not commit every ounce of my being to what is in front of me. On the other hand, life is also too short and I need to constantly remember that as well. Remember every day, where I want to be and act on getting there. These posts are a tiny part of that action. I know in the end future Zack will thank me, regardless of how long life actually turns out to be.