I went to the store and bought three simple shirts. On the way home as I biked through Berlin, I decided to call my sister. The conversation was great. She had the attention to listen to me, and I enjoyed telling her about my recent metaphor of time distribution and picking the direction for what to do in life.
Life directions are bets we place before knowing the outcome. To discover if a path is worth pursuing, we must invest time and attention to feel the internal reality of that work. Since we can't predict what will succeed, why not place multiple bets simultaneously? Allocate 5 hours to each vastly different pursuit. Through this investment, we'll quickly sense if something resonates. We'll feel the pull, the curiosity that signals genuine alignment.
I really got into this conversation and was quite emotional about it. When I reached my house, I parked my bike and took the elevator up while talking on the phone. I got home and sat on the couch and continued the conversation for another 10 minutes. When I finished, I had a feeling that something was missing, and then it occurred to me that I forgot to pick up the shirts from the basket on my bike that I parked at one of the busiest intersections in Berlin.
I went downstairs to pick them up, but they were not there. I had a feeling of disappointment and the feeling of loss, minor loss relatively, but loss nevertheless. Then I sat down and contemplated how I can save the situation, so I decided to write this, which is both articulation of the recent thoughts and yet another reminder to be fully present.
The loss is never loss if one drives the situation into another useful experience. The same applies to time invested in pursuits that don't work out. It is just a question of how, where and when to divert the effort.
