(Until there isn’t)
Procrastination is an integral part of humanity. We put off till tomorrow what should have been done today. There is always a tomorrow, or is there?
You should never give up on life until you take your last breath.
It’s just too easy, especially for us old folks, to just give up on our dreams because we see the end of the tunnel. We think, “what’s the point of…” Fill this quote with just about anything”. In reality, none of us really don’t know when our end comes. Yeah, we can speculate about it but that is just giving up productive days you might still have. I say due to my genes I will likely die before I am 78, but who really knows.
- Does that mean I only have four more years?
- What shape will I be in?
- Maybe it’s time to just give up now?
The above sounds like logical things to consider, and I am a guy driven by logic. But, by giving into that thought I might just be giving up some of the best years of my life. In this case, I think logic should give way to hope and dreams. I know some, especially those who are younger probably think that dreaming is for those with more of the life ahead of them than behind them. For them, I can say with certainty that you will change your mind when it is you facing the last half.
I know many today, especially all those MAGA folks, who seem to think I should be willing to give up my final days so they are not burdened. They think of me as collateral damage. The inconvenience of wearing a mask is just too much to ask of them just so I can live all the years that God gives me.
This brings back a vivid image of the movie “Soylent Green” from 1972. I know that was almost 50 years ago, but it still sticks in my memory. A little about that movie is shown to the right. I can still see the image of “Sol” lying on a silk sheet covered bed looking with wonder at how earth used to be. He was giving up his life so that he could be turned into Soylent Green nutrient pills for the population of New York. Yeah, Soylent Green is people! That was the shocking end of the movie. 🤪
Ok, getting back to some form of reality, I don’t know if there is a next life or not. I leave that stuff up to God and trusting him I don’t worry about it much. But, if I still see things I want to accomplish I’m not going to wait to do it after I die. I will try to do them now.
RJ's Corner 
Indeed. I have been a firm believer in “Nexting”, a term I think I came up with my self to describe my habit of trying to have something to look forward to (or dream about). I have used this term mainly in reference to travel.
Since retirement, 7 years ago, we have traveled a fair amount and we find that we enjoy the planning and anticipation of each new trip/adventure as much, if not more than the trip it self. Therefore, I usually like to have the NEXT trip booked or at least in my mind by the time we get home from the latest one.
The past year has been difficult for many reasons, just one of which was having to cancel and miss two trips. We were three days from leaving for Machu Picchu last March, when that trip was cancelled and had a Mediterranean cruise scheduled for this fall, that didn’t happen.
None of us, would have dreamed back in March, that we wouldn’t be much better off at the end of the year, yet here we are. Fortunately, thanks to news about potential vaccines, and more importantly, the upcoming change in the White House, many of us are hopeful and seeing a light at the end of this tunnel that 2020 has felt like.
As a sign of our belief in better times, we recently booked 3 new trips for 2021. Will we actually be able to take all three? Perhaps not, but they all have cancellation policies, we used credits we had already committed for the previous trips, and most importantly, they give us something to think about, plan for and look forward to. 😁
A good friend of ours tells people “the last one” when they ask her, which trip was her favorite of all the trips they have taken. Instead I answer that my favorite trip is the NEXT one.
Like you said it is good to have something to dream about.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the thoughts Jackie. “Nexting”, I like it, I hope you don’t mind if I use it to? Dreamers that we are it is always a dream that the next vacation/road trip will be the best.
For the last 5 years I have taken an average of six road trips per year in my µRV. Each year I try to focus on a different theme. 2019 was the year of the reenactments/Rendezvous. It was great! 2020 was about regional museum of history. Of course that didn’t happen at all. I was two weeks away from my first trip when everything fell apart. Like you I am hoping that with the vaccine I will get some in this year.
Thanks again for the phrase and especially the idea behind it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nexting–I like that. Thank you, Jackie.
LikeLiked by 1 person