Life Lessons, Chasing Presence, & Finding Balance
Wednesday Wisdoms for December 11, 2024
Welcome to Wednesday Wisdom, our 3x3 Newsletter where I distill worldly advice for better living with 3 quotes, 3 observations, and 3 questions.
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Life Lessons
🤨 Quote
“Time is the school in which we learn.”
Joan Didion
Source: The Year of Magical Thinking
Observation 🧐
Good ideas can come from anywhere so long as we’re open to them. The same is true of life’s lessons.
When we open ourselves up to learn, when we can disengage our ego, we become available to learn from the experiences of our life. There is an attunement in this, an ear to the self if you will, in which we can recognize the opportunity at hand.
As the philosopher Aaron James once put it:
“Being in a state of basic attunement to something means at least being "in tune" or "in sync" with a pattern that emerges over time.”
Or we can be deaf to life’s lessons.
Many people live life having made the same mistake multiple times only to make it again and never learn.
If time is our most valuable asset, then the lessons learned is the protective casing that ensures we keep it intact.
Don’t waste time going down dark alleys you’ve already experienced.
🤔 Question
What is one thing you can do in a situation that will remind yourself there is a lesson to be learned? How can you then carry that lesson forward?
Chasing Presence
🤨 Quote
“When we see a very beautiful sunset, we are very happy, perceiving that the sun is there with us. In fact it was already behind the mountain eight minutes ago. It takes eight minutes for the sunshine to reach our planet. The hard fact is that we never see the sun in the present, we only see the sun of the past.”
Thich Naht Hahn
Source: Being Peace
Observation 🧐
We tend to be tuned to the future.
The present moment is never really a moment, it is a continuous movement, like a non-stop conveyer belt, always moving forward.
While we’re on it, we can choose to see the things around us as they pass, acknowledging their existence and embracing them, or we can keep looking forward, waiting to see more and more.
We will never grasp the power of the present moment if we’re looking ahead. But if we can learn to embrace that which is around us, we will be able to slow time for ourselves enough to truly be present.
Stop.
Look.
Listen.
The present is all around waiting to be seen.
Grab hold before it is too late.
🤔 Question
What is one phrase or mantra you can repeat to yourself that will bring you back to the present moment?
One I’ve used when my mind starts to wander where it shouldn’t, “Not useful,”
Beneath the paywall this week we explore the wisdom of Kieran Setiya. Click below to support and get access.