Play & Pay

We often hear that we can’t have our cake and eat it. I now think there should be an exception to that rule. Whether we think life is short or long, it is not a dress rehearsal. Who we are is our gift from God. What we do is our gift back to him. Therefore, we should bake our cake, decorate it and eat it joyfully. Remember to share with others too. It gets sweeter when we do.

I’m keen on being present this year. That’s the only way I will counter my biggest saboteur, being a hyper achiever. The universe (I prefer Sir God) is dropping small nuggets of encouragement as we move along. When the student is ready the teacher will appear. “Be where you are, otherwise you will miss your life” said Buddha. I love that quote. It emphasizes my WhatsApp status of being where my feet are.

But I’ll admit folks. There is still an inner anxiety about what the future might look like. It remains a private battle that I’m determined to win this year. We are told to live in the moment but how do we ensure future moments are as delightful as the present ones, or better?  Sunny Bindra recently shed light on this paradox. In his column last Sunday in the Daily Nation gazeti Sunny talks about the dilemma of living fully today or worrying about kesho. I found it a curious read coming from a strategy expert. Strategy is almost always about the future. What we need to do to ensure we meet our targets and arrive at our destination on time, within budget and with as minimal distractions as possible.

How then do we reconcile the call to live fully in the present with the need to prepare for the future? Sunny asks. To many these positions seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum and that’s where having our cake and eating it is allowed. Our plan should be to maximise both today and tomorrow. We don’t have to choose one over the other. We must find a way of marrying both views or at least convincing them to cohabit hehe.

I have missed out on a lot of pleasant present moments over the last decade because of worrying too much about the future. That’s resulted in a poor quality of life. Living in a future that’s neither here nor real and missing out on the present. Folks let’s take Buddha’s warning seriously that we risk not living if we are not present. At the end of life, many are robbed of life’s blessings by worry. We will regret more what we didn’t do than what we did.

So why do we struggle to be present even when we know that should be our default setting? I’d say it’s for several reasons. For me, the fear of poverty has been a bad master. Driving me to panic and obsess about a more secure tomorrow. Yet when I think of it I haven’t experienced poverty in the real sense of the word. So what’s that about? I have paid the heavy price of normalizing my blessings too quickly. It’s like walking through a beautiful garden of roses but noticing only the thorns and being oblivious to the rose flowers and the nice fragrance.

 We see that a lot in our country too with the pandemic that’s corruption. Leaders amass wealth as if they are assured of living for the next 100 years. Greed is a ruthless slave master that’s chained so many to the point they can only see (more like imagine) the future. Yet it’s a future they cannot guarantee. That said we have to spare some space in our minds to think and plan about the future because if we play today we will pay tomorrow. But if we pay today (working hard) we will play tomorrow. A balance of play and paying is a good combination.

Sunny emphasizes that point by saying, “Presence and planning, when combined create a powerful dynamic. We act with intention today to build the future we want tomorrow.” My gym resolution applies well here. I’m on week 3 and so far, so good but still no fun. It’s a mind-over-matter situation. But I’ll keep on grinding until I like it (my instructor says I will fall in love with it but sioni). I hope that comes soon. I am doing this now so that I can age into a strong old man tomorrow hehe.

Folks we have to find a way of multitasking. Yes, even for us men who struggle with it hehe. We need to engage both the present and the future. Make one work in favour of the other. That’s how a good life is achieved. By living presently, we can plan more realistically for the future. That’s how you have your cake and eat it. By the way, mummy shark bakes some deadly cakes. Check out her tastily baked art on IG @praiseworthypastries and order a cake to practice todays lesson here ok hehe.