Enough now of kicking the can down the road

Written by Ron Colone | 30 April 2009
Posted in Points of View

I wonder what would happen if everyone were to look in the mirror and ask themselves – do I want to make it great. Whatever “it” may be …

It could be their job, their marriage, their spiritual practice; a friendship, their family, their team, their company, their art, their community, their country … their life.

Whatever “it” is, the question becomes - am I just whiling away the time without being fully present and without giving myself to the situation; am I just showing up without really showing up; without really caring and without really putting forth the effort? And if so, is that how and what I want to be; … someone who’s apathetic … indifferent … blasé? Am I so dispirited as to not even try to make it great?

I’m not suggesting that people should be more ambitious, or more concerned with do-ing rather than be-ing, but I do think that every day offers opportunities for us to be alive; to think, to imagine, to love, to communicate, to learn, to work, to cooperate, to appreciate, to help someone, and maybe – some way somehow – change the world for the better.

How many times, though, do we end up not seizing the opportunity, either because we’re too tired, too lazy, unmotivated, uncaring, unaware, or simply because we’re not present in the present? We fail to recognize the true importance of the moment, and by so doing allow life and time to slip away – little by little.

We act as if there is endless time to make things better and do something great; endless time to fulfill our purpose, and uphold our principles, and live according to our ideals, but we have all seen plenty enough examples of people who’ve had the rug snatched out from under them, and never quite got around to it.

No matter who or where we are, until we achieved our immortality, our time is limited, and since we know not the hour, we know not how much time is left for us to do what we truly want to do, or feel we should or shouldn’t do.

Some people say - you should live each day as if it’s your last. If I were to approach the day with that mind-set then I wouldn’t go to work, which would probably not be in my best interest let alone the interest and well-being of my family.

A better mantra for me is – Be aLive, and occupy the moment you are in. Don’t be a vacant, empty shell – lacking in energy, absent in presence, wanting of life.

Many of us, in our day-to-day jobs, lives and circumstances, move through without being fully present and with an almost nonchalant attitude in regards to greatness and changing the world, and as a result we fail to hold the intent or put forth the effort. Instead, we just go about “business as usual.”

Not only does it happen individually but collectively as well. Our nonchalance in addressing and effectively dealing with some of the big problems that impact as all, such as energy and the environment, results in the problems being passed off to future generations. Lately, I’ve been hearing the term “kicking the can down the road.” The can represents the problem, or perhaps the solution, and rather than taking possession of it, we just keep putting it off, pushing it off, and passing it off. Instead of kicking it down the road, it’s time to take possession of it, take responsibility for it, and do something great with it – whatever greatness means to you.