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Plan Your Whole Life

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Rock solid.

It’s futile to plan your whole life. Nobody’s life goes according to plan.

Q: How to make God laugh? 
A: Make a plan.

But it’s also futile not to.

I deleted a blog post yesterday. It was all about how I’ve been sleeping better (which is generally true), and what’s been working for me (getting more bright light in the morning, some EFT techniques, herbs to reduce cortisol, calcium+magnesium, and so on). I’d written the post after sleeping a perfect seven hours without waking up at all (without any sleeping pills or megadoses of vitamins). I thought I was over the worst of my sleeping issues.

But then the night before last I didn’t sleep at all. Not a wink. Aside from a late dinner and staying up a bit too late watching Netflix (with f.lux and my amber glasses), I’m not sure what I did differently.

So … back to the drawing board.

I’ve had other health issues that persisted for months or years, then resolved, either because of active intervention on my part, or for reasons unknown. Hopefully these sleep challenges will go the same way. It’s something that I can influence (through good habits, and trial and error experimentation), but not completely control.

Just like most things in life.

What I can do is imagine and plan for the life I want, long-term. Do I want to be around in ten years? Yes. Twenty? Yes.

Forty more years? Let’s see how I feel, if I make it that long. Maybe by that time it will be time get my brain scanned and upload to the cloud.

I took a few minutes to jot down some big picture notes for each probable decade of my life. I know I’m not immortal, and recent health challenges have brought that fact into focus (as have the two recent deaths in my family, and the sudden passing away of an acquaintance). But if I’m fortunate enough to live for a long time more, what do I want to do with all that time on this fine planet?

Regular readers will guess what’s on my list. A career as a novelist. Maybe a hit track or two. Build the ultimate gaming room. Later in life, teaching. Maybe be a grandparent one day. Visit the continents I’ve yet to visit. Push for social and enviornmental progress. There’s a lot to do.

It’s easy to get obsessed with the details, problems, and worries of the day. But yesterday I took a different approach … focussing on why I’m here and what I want to do with what is (statistically) probably a very long amount of time.

I found these thoughts very comforting, and despite my zero hours of sleep, I had a good day, both productively and emotionally. I zoomed out, focussing on the big picture, what I want to do in the decades to come, and how I want to live (having fun, rejecting stress, being kind, working passionately, etc.).

What doesn’t kill you doesn’t make you stronger. It leaves you scarred, and maybe a little scared. But scars are better than wounds. The body and brain do tend to heal and rebalance, if given the right raw materials and a supportive environment.

Last night I slept pretty well. Another gift, and something I’ll never take for granted again. Just like I’ll never take breathing for granted, or eating.

I know why I’m here. Not because I’ve discovered some kind of universal life purpose, but because I’ve decided for myself. And I know what I want to do with my time. I know why I need to stick around, and get past the struggles of today.

That knowledge is my rock. It keeps me steady in rough weather.

So what about you? What’s your rock? Why are you here? What’s your master plan?


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