Figuring out how to spend our time

Had a thought this morning...

I think it's pretty reasonable to lose some drive as you get older. Life becomes easier in some ways - and with that ease comes the comfort of routines, of falling back into things you can reliably provide for yourself. It’s like taking an emotional deep breath and choosing to stay there for a while.

But eventually, when you try to step out of those everyday motions - the ones you've started defaulting to rather than actively choosing - you may find yourself reaching for goals that are either too big or too small. The big ones overwhelm you, go unfinished, and leave you frustrated. The small ones end too quickly, and you're left wondering if you have to start the whole cycle again just to feel something.

So how do we find the “right-sized” tasks? I think the answer is a bit more nebulous. It depends on cultivating the kind of trust and curiosity we had as children. We should pursue things where the outcome isn’t obvious - where the reward isn’t something we can clearly define. If someone asks what life will be like when we finish, our only honest answer might be, "happier."

Nobody can predict the future, yet many try to play fortune teller with their own lives. They chase goals that sound like they’ll lead to happiness, or avoid starting anything at all because they’ve stopped thinking about what brings them joy in the moment. But curiosity is what gives people courage. And nothing is more strong-willed than the mind of a child.

Spend more time doing things that reconnect you with who you were before the world expected so much of you - before the job, the bills, the obligations. That version of you still knows how to wonder.