Decades

Was chatting with someone yesterday we were talking about how we're not good at being patient. We live in the world of the remote control were we get everything in an instant. I think we in western culture live with the reality that if we don't like the channel we can change it. If we don't like our job we can change it, if we don't like where we live we can change it, if we don't like our relationships we can change them.

If we don't get what we want quickly we easily feel frustrated and give up. We flick the channel to something else, something new to focus on, something else to help us get through life, something else to try and give our lives meaning, something else to make us significant.

I occasionally meet people who appear to be flicking the remote of their life all the time, going from one channel to the next until they find what they enjoy. Although by the time they find what they enjoy they have so shortened their own ability to give anything long term attention they move on. Thus they just flick through life hoping one day to land on the channel that suits them. Project to project, new initiative to new initiative!!!!

Life as a channel hopper can't be fun.

I once heard someone say ( I think it was Pete Greig, he probably borrowed it from someone) "We don't often think of our lives in decades!" Ok let's say we have 8 decades of life to live with, if your reading this you have probably lived between 2 and 4 of those decades. I like to think most of my readers have only lived 2 but it could be closer to 4 and 5, I mustn't kid myself that I attract a young audience with these ramblings. So you have 3 or 4 decades left.....

Lets say you have 4 uber productive decades, what would you like to stick at and achieve per decade? 4 Decades, maybe 4 achievements! Maybe achievements is the wrong word then again maybe it's not. Be good to see people getting a bit more definite about what they want from life.

People without vision wander aimlessly.

Of course thinking in decades counteracts remote control living.....